Peter Stevens performing at the graduation ceremony.
Back in May our fifth cohort from the Fabshop completed its 26 week program. This group was sponsored by Service Canada, and for good reason, as 7 of the 12 who completed the program have found work in the trades since May.
17 youth, mostly from the Downtown Eastside area, joined the Fabshop program back in November 2010. They were given classroom training at the beginning and slowly moved towards more hands on work. While the focus is carpentry, it is used more as a means to teach these youth life skills and to remove employability barriers. The basic math skills required for construction work are transferable to any number of other work focuses.
Being a social enterprise, this operation is funded substantially via work contracts. This group largely worked for B.C. Hydro, providing quality wood products for Bunsen Lake Park, including picnic tables, information signs, outhouses and a boat house. Most of the work is done in their shop, but on occasion they would travel out in the community and do on site work; this was done mainly for B.C. Housing projects.
Some of the graduating students found employment before the program was even completed, and most have found work since. The ones that haven’t have still gained valuable life skills and will be a positive force within their communities. None had had stable employment previously.
The graduation event included a hoop dance by Peter Stevens, one of our trainees, and a lot of the participant’s family members also attended the ceremony.
The next program will hopefully be starting late this coming month or two, depending on funding and construction contracts.
