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Building Futures Through the Community Construction Academies

01/28/2025 Article

The personal stories of loss and devastation after Hurricane Ian in September of 2022 were, and still are to this day, heartbreaking to listen to. Many individuals and families in Fort Myers and Southwest Florida lost possessions, homes and jobs. They also lost their sense of place and community.

“After Hurricane Ian, we came back to find our home completely shattered. We had no possessions to call our own,” said Justice Wise, a resident of Fort Myers.

Danielle Fluxman and her family also suffered losses.

“I was unemployed for a few months, and I lost two cars and a home,” she said.

But after the storm passed, and the cleanup began, there were signs and stories of hope that were equally inspiring and heartwarming. People needed work and the community needed to be rebuilt.

The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) and Lowe’s, in response to the hurricane, sensed a need to aid and assist in the restoration and help in the rebuilding of the area. The philanthropic effort by the nonprofit and the home improvement retailer brought the two together to create the Rapid Recovery Construction Academy (RRCA). The program provided construction craft training skills to individuals seeking a fresh start on life and a way to help rebuild Fort Myers.

Programs Offer Hope and Opportunity

The RRCA program not only offered hope but also a real chance for individuals to get back on their feet. Through free craft training, the program introduced students to masonry and the skilled trades. With academy partners like the Florida Masonry Apprentice & Educational Foundation, students learned a trade that provided career options, which simultaneously could support local restoration efforts.

Student Elizabeth Rodriguez described her experience in the program.

“I never had to stress about money. That was a big thing for me. I could get the knowledge and hands-on experience without having to stress about how I was going to pay rent or how I was going to pay for my books.”

Expanding Opportunity

Following the success of the RRCA — 52 individuals participated and completed the program — NCCER was invited by the Lowe’s Foundation to apply for a 2024 Gable Grant. The Gable Grant program is part of a larger initiative by Lowe’s Foundation to prepare and train 50,000 skilled craftsmen for the construction industry between 2023 and 2028.

The Lowe’s Foundation recognized the merits of the NCCER application and presented the nonprofit with a $1 million grant. This grant money allowed NCCER to expand on the partnership and create a successor to the RRCA, Community Construction Academies (CCA). NCCER developed CCA programs in three Gulf Coast states: Florida, Alabama and Texas.

How Community Construction Academies Work

The structure of the program was similar in each of the three states. CCA supports underrepresented groups of men and women in each community and are led by three training partners to run cohorts in those communities to teach individuals. In Tampa, Florida, NCCER ran two cohorts; in Birmingham, Alabama, it ran eight cohorts; and in Port Arthur, Texas, five cohorts were developed.

As the Director of Philanthropy and Partnerships at NCCER, Melissa Perkins has witnessed the academies’ direct impact.

“Community Construction Academy programs change lives,” she said. “These programs serve individuals facing incredibly difficult life circumstances. We have trained individuals experiencing homelessness, recovering from disaster, or living below the poverty line.”

“What makes CCA programs special is that they don’t just help people find a job, they help them start a career. These careers allow people to break the cycle of poverty and build communities at the same time,” she added.

Community Construction Academies are free programs, so students don’t pay for any of the training or classes. Lasting six to eight weeks, it’s structured as a fast-track, boot camp-style program that teaches NCCER Core, OSHA 10 and then focuses on one of four crafts that were identified as areas of focus by Lowe’s Foundation. The four craft areas include carpentry, plumbing, HVACR and electrical.

A Lasting Effect

NCCER’s philanthropic program is having a positive and lasting effect on participants in Port Arthur, Birmingham and Tampa.

In Port Arthur, Dalton Antoine is a craft instructor for the Golden Triangle Empowerment Center. He’s appreciative of NCCER and Lowe’s support of the program.

“In communities like mine, people are not able to get a good job,” he said. “Some turn to a life of crime. We’ve had several situations where people have been incarcerated and then these people have come back and had an opportunity to go through our school.”

“It’s a wonderful thing! It’s life-changing. I can’t express in words how thankful I am to have something like this in our community,” said Antoine.

In one Birmingham neighborhood where the CCA class restored an older home, student Nancy O’Neal came away from the experience thinking that construction was a “wonderful” career option.

“It has the potential for you to go as high as you want to go. You can start as a laborer and become a construction superintendent or even own a construction company,” said O’Neal.

“The sky is the limit as far as construction goes!” she said.

Dr. Mittie Cannon, founder of CRL Resources, LLC, expressed her excitement for CCA and the impact it has had on the Birmingham community.

“When you provide people with positive activities, it keeps them from being engaged in some of those other things that usually end up unbalancing communities,” said Dr. Cannon. “I have seen lives changed. I have seen communities rebuilding.”

“It takes commitments from organizations like Lowe’s to give people hope,” she said.

 

NCCER would like to thank its partners for their generosity in helping change lives through skilled trades instruction. If you’re interested in donating to important initiatives like this, please visit nccer.org.

 

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