Habitat for Humanity, Skillsource partner
Skillsource students Darrell Madsen, left, and Aaron Brown get instruction from Skillsource instructor Don Key on how to roof a storage shed for a duplex development that will be used for low income families in Moses Lake. Skillsource and Habitat for Humanity partnered on the project and are considering a partnership with the Columbia Basin Job Corps for future projects.<br>Aimee Hornberger/Columbia Basin Herald
Organizations looking to strengthen relations with Columbia Basin Job Corps in future
MOSES LAKE — With hammer and nails in hand, 20-year-old Aaron Brown is ready for another day of class.
It's not school in the sense of sitting down in a classroom for six hours, but gaining hands-on experience through a summer program with Skillsource in Moses Lake.
"If someone told me I could do this I would have said 'nah,'" Brown said of gaining job training at Skillsource. "Now I got another trade on my resume."
Experience is what Brown and other students at Skillsource have been working on since July 1 as they explore outdoor careers, camping and work on community projects.
The latest project is the construction of two storage units to be used for a duplex development for low income families on Craig Street in Moses Lake, near the former Larson Air Force Base.
The project is a partnership between Habitat for Humanity and Skillsource.
This is a way to instill job skills, job maturity and teamwork into these students, said Don Key, an instructor at Skillsource.
Skillsource works with schools, businesses and employers to offer basic skills training to students and has offices in Moses Lake, Othello, Wenatchee, Brewster and Omak.
This is the third year Habitat for Humanity and Skillsource have partnered on projects.
Discussions are currently taking place to organize a stronger partnership between the Columbia Basin Job Corps and Skillsource on a future project.
Job Corps students have worked with Habitat for Humanity in the past and this would further solidify a permanent partnership to pool resources, said Bonnie Eagar, work-based learning coordinator at CBJC.
Meetings are scheduled to take place later this month as to how to proceed with the proposed partnership.
As Job Corps centers around the nation are feeling a bigger push from the federal government to partner with local agencies to combine resources, building those partnerships will become increasingly vital, Eagar added. "They're basically in the same business that we are so we're helping each other out."
The duplexes are built by Habitat for Humanity through grants, donations and volunteer labor. Those monies are paid back by the families over a 20-year period to Habitat for Humanity and the money is then used for future housing projects.
Two duplexes are scheduled to be built, with construction starting on them by the end of the summer.
"It's kind of a dual purpose," said LaDell Yada, executive director with Habitat for Humanity of partnering with area agencies like Skillsource and Job Corps to provide job training for students and homes for low income families.
Having an opportunity to do hands-on projects and be involved in the community makes going to work fun and interesting, said 17-year-old Skillsource student Bonham Kimmell.
"That's significant that they get to see the results of their work and they were part of that," Yada said of all three organizations working together.