- Representation matters.

If you don't see yourself reflected in something, it's hard to really imagine that there's a place for you in it.

- I have stories from being a girl and being encouraged not to consider a path like this.

I meet so many women who have the exact same story.

For generations we haven't seen it, so why would we ever think that this is something that we can do?

There are women who love to get their hands dirty.

They want to build things, they want to maintain homes and build roads and do all of the things that help make our lives comfortable and worth living.

A program like Hope is important, because it provides the skills for that, the support for that.

You actually, get to see people who look like you doing this work, and it makes it believable.

It makes it seem like I can do this.

[gentle music] Hope Renovations is a nonprofit that empowers women and gender expansive folks into careers in the construction industry where they can make living wages and support their families.

And we do that through a combination of training here in our workshop and on the job learning, which is out in the community with our crews doing aging in place repairs for seniors.

[tool whirring] [workers chatting indistinctly] - It started when I started picking up tools and learning how to do my own thing.

Over time it kind of snowballed.

I started taking on more renovations, helping friends and family.

It got bigger and bigger.

I had a lot of friends who would talk to me about what I knew how to do, and they would say, "Oh, I'm so jealous.

I wish I knew how to do that.

I could never do that."

And that just frankly made me mad, like, of course, you can do it.

If I can learn how to do it from YouTube, trust me, you know, you can learn how to do it too.

And just over time, it kind of dawned on me maybe my place in this world is helping other women do this.

Towards the end of my time in graduate school, I learned about this concept of aging in place.

Basically, it's this idea that all the outcomes are better, if you can stay in your home as you grow older.

And it really struck a chord with me, because my husband's brother had MS.

In his final years of life, we couldn't afford to keep him in the home that he and my husband grew up in.

So, we ended up having to move him to an assisted living.

And just watching him go downhill in assisted living when he really wanted to be home was really hard on both of us.

So, I learned about this concept and I thought, if I have a training program, women are gonna need an opportunity to get their hands dirty, to get hands-on skills, to get out there, to use tools, and this is a population that really needs this help.

Why don't we bring the two of those together?

It seems like it makes a lot of sense.

[tool whirring] - So, I'll take my knife, I'll load it onto the edge.

I'm starting like this, and then as I go on, I'm turning my, I'm bringing my hand closer to the wall to unload the mud that was on my knife, right?

- We have a dual mission, and that means we basically, have two programs that run side by side.

Our training program, it's nine weeks long.

The first five weeks is spent in our workshop and our classroom kind of learning core, basic stuff, overview of the industry, getting a little bit accustomed to carpentry and plumbing and electrical, and what's the difference.

After that initial five weeks, they go out and they spend four weeks with our construction crew doing hands-on learning.

So, that's the other side of what we do.

We go out in our community and we work for folks who are 55 plus or disabled, and we do accessibility modifications, we do urgent repairs, all the things that seniors need to be able to live more comfortably, to be able to live more safely in their homes.

Our program is free.

We also offer a stipend for the first five weeks, just be able to afford transportation, childcare, whatever the case may be.

And then for the four weeks they come out on the job site with us, we actually, hire them as employees on our team, and they're making living wages working for us.

So, you know, it's an opportunity to gain skills and earn a wage.

- I say, let's back off of this for a minute.

- [Worker] Okay.

- Let's put some railings up and then we.

- [Worker] We'll just take this out though.

- Yeah, absolutely.

My first engagement with Hope Renovations was in 2020.

I got into the very first cohort and then I went on and started my own little business doing decks and porches.

After a little bit of time doing that, I decided I wanted to come back to Hope.

So, I've been back at Hope as a construction site supervisor for a year now.

Then that's what we need to take off the board from.

I spent most of my life not thinking construction was for me.

So, when I came here and saw that there was a construction crew of women already and they were training more women to join the industry, it was just like, I wanna be a part of that, you know?

I want to learn more, I want to encourage other women and be a part of the movement.

I got in class, I was excited about being here every day, and it really confirmed for me that yes, this is where I want to be.

Four years later, I'm still in love with my work.

Very close.

Working with the trainees probably is the most rewarding part of the job.

Four years ago, I was in this classroom feeling a little bit like a fish outta water.

I was in marketing for 20 years and hadn't touched tools since I was a little kid.

So, a lot of the trainees who come through here are in the same boat.

In week one, they're a little nervous.

They're a little shaky.

They're like, "I don't know if I can do this."

But by week four, they're just like cutting everything, they're screwing everything in, and they're like, "I'm shocked that I've grown this much in four weeks."

And I'm like, "I'm not shocked.

You know, you've worked really hard."

It's very gratifying to see that they're building confidence, building real tangible skills that they can turn into gainful employment.

[people chatting indistinctl;y] - All right.

Good evening, everyone.

Welcome to the graduation of the Fall 2023 Hope Renovations cohort.

[audience cheering] [audience applauding] - In 2022, women made up only about 11% of the workforce in construction, and there were no statistics available on LGBTQ or non-binary participation in the industry, which as a side note, is a growth opportunity for the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[audience laughing] [audience applauding] So, those numbers alone make a strong argument for why Hope Renovations is absolutely necessary.

Simply put, to train women and non-binary individuals to enter a workforce where they will prove themselves to be just as strong, just as tough, just as smart, and just as capable as their male counterparts.

But there is something magical mixed in with the sawdust that's sprinkled around the Hope Renovations workshop.

Something that goes beyond being just as good as the status quo.

We are not capable of being just as good, we're capable of being better.

[audience cheering] - My favorite quote is by Nelson Henderson, and it's, "The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not intend to sit."

And that's what we're doing at Hope Renovations.

We are creating a future that not just the people who graduate from our program or the seniors that we're helping can be a part of, but their kids are seeing it, their neighbors are seeing it, their communities are seeing it, and it's getting bigger and bigger.

That future that one day I'm not gonna be around to see, but I know is gonna be there.

Knowing that we're building that, that's the most rewarding part.

[gentle music] [gentle music continues]