Grit Nation

Apprentice Supportive Services - Washington State

January 17, 2021 Season 2 Episode 5
Grit Nation
Apprentice Supportive Services - Washington State
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Welcome to The Spotlight,

On today’s show we meet Karen Dove, Executive Director for ANEW and Amesha Lawton of the Urban League. Both run programs in Washington State that provide assistance for our carpenter apprentices and those interested in becoming professional craftspeople in the building trades. 

We’ll start our conversation by learning what the ANEW program is and how Karen orchestrates the distribution of funds to help offset the financial burdens many apprentices experience while learning their craft.

She will then talk with us about RISE UP and its goal of creating jobsites that are respectful and inclusive through education and accountability. 

Next, Amesha will introduce us to her valuable work at The Urban League. We will discuss how this grant funded program delivers much needed assistance to those in underrepresented and disadvantage communities when looking for opportunities to better their lives through careers in the trades. 

This episode highlights primarily apprentice and pre-apprentice programs in the Washington State with a focus on the Seattle Puget Sound Area. To find career enhancing opportunities in Southwestern Washington and Oregon State, check out my interview with Penny Painter from the AKANA organization.

If you know a group or initiative that would be a good candidate for The Spotlight, please send me an email to GritNW@gmail.com. Be sure to include the contact information for the organization and how it has contributed to better the lives of our members.

Show Notes

Information about ANEW

https://anewaop.org/


Information about The Urban League
https://urbanleague.org/

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Joe Cadwell:

Welcome to another edition of the spotlight, a special segment inside the Grit Northwest podcast where we acknowledge those programs that go above and beyond to lend support to better the lives of our members in the northwest carpenters union. On today's show, we'll meet Karen Dove, Executive Director for ANEW and Ameesha Lawton of The Urban League. Both run programs in Washington state that provide assistance for our Carpenter apprentices and those interested in becoming professional craftspeople in the trades. We'll start a conversation by learning what the new program is and how Karen orchestrates the distribution of funds to help offset the financial burdens many apprentices experience while learning their craft. She will then talk with us about RISE UP and its goal of creating job sites that are both respectful and inclusive through education and accountability. Next, Ameesha will introduce us to her valuable work at the Urban League. We will discuss how this grant funded program delivers much needed assistance to those and underrepresented and disadvantaged communities when looking for opportunities to better their lives through careers in the trades. This episode highlights primarily apprentice and pre apprentice programs in Washington state with a focus on the Seattle Puget Sound area. To find career enhancing opportunities in Southwestern Washington and Oregon State. Check out my interview with Penny Painter from the Akana organization. If you know a group or initiative that would be a good candidate for the spotlight, please send an email to Grit nw@gmail.com Be sure to include the contact information for the organization and how it has contributed to better the lives of our members. And now onto the show.

Karen Dove:

Karen Dove, welcome to the Spotlight. Great to be here, Joe. Well, Karen, thank you so much for taking your time to be on the show today. If you would please tell the listeners who you are and what program you are the executive director of. Yes, I am the Executive Director of ANEW and we do pre apprenticeship training in the Pacific Northwest region. We're a 40 year old nonprofit organization, really with an emphasis on BIPOC, women and justice involved individuals to get them into the construction trades. And we really have four buckets of programming that we do we have our training, which is pre apprenticeship training. It's a 12 week training program 280 hours and after someone goes through that training, they have director preferred entry into the 17 building trades and so benefit for them to go through the program is that they get a preferred or direct entry into the apprenticeship of their choice. We also have construction boot camps, which are shorter term training programs about four weeks long. And those we travel all the way up to Bellingh am down to Chehalis and looking at even doing some of those in eastern Washington later on in 2021. If we get through this pandemic, we also have support services. Our apprenticeship opportunity project helps people who are apprentices or want to be apprentices. And we help them financially with barriers to getting into or staying in an apprenticeship. So say you're a carpenter, you're getting ready to go into the carpenters apprenticeship, you need those$500 worth of tools, but you don't have $500, we actually can help provide the funding for you to get the tools you need to go into the union. And then we don't just help you get in, but we follow you for two years. We keep in touch with you. And we make sure if you have any other barriers that we help you navigate those barriers so that you can stay in your apprenticeship, get through it and become a journeyman. We also have career exploration that we do in the high schools and for youth. And this is really focused because as you know, our our schools have been college focused for many, many years. We want construction careers to be first choice career. So we go into high schools and we talk to the youth about construction, the construction industry. We show them career pathways in the industry. And we talked to them about the wages they can earn and how this should be a first choice career. And then lastly, we have rise up which is respect inclusion, safety and equity in the construction trades. And this is a diversity Equity and Inclusion program that's designed to help shift the culture of construction to one that is more inclusive to a diverse population. As our population in the construction industry changes from predominantly male to adding women and people of color, LGBTQ plus p individuals, people with disabilities we need to be inclusive of these diverse voices, and we need to be respectful of them. So RISE UP helps give workers the tools they need to shift the culture and set expectations of a respectful work site, on your worksite or for your company. And we work with contractors apprenticeship programs, or public entities to set expectations for them in on on their sites or with their companies.

Joe Cadwell:

Well, Karen, it seems like you, you offer a lot of support for a lot of people trying to get into the trades. If I could ask What does a news stand for?

Karen Dove:

It stands for Apprenticeship and Non traditional Employment for Women. Originally, we started out to try to get more women into the construction trades back in 1980. And we've been pretty successful. Seattle is one of the highest areas of women in the trades. And so part of that success is because of the new program, but since then, we have acquired the PACE program, which serves co-ed individuals, men and women. So we serve actually about half and half half males have females within our training program, and our apprenticeship opportunity project. And just for the clarity of folks listening, the geographic area that you provide these services in is in the Seattle Puget Sound area. predominantly in Western Washington, we do our career exploration across the state and our rise up programming is actually national in scope. We have helped contractors nationally with rise up training. And just to clarify, these programs just aren't available to people wanting to enter the carpentry career path. But they're also available to other career paths such as iron workers, electricians, plumbers, laborers. That's absolutely correct. We have relationships with all 17 of the building trades and the carpenters, again with direct and preferred entry into some of those trades. So if they go through our pre apprenticeship program, they don't have to compete with everyone going through the application process in some of those trades. Or maybe they get extra points on their application, which gives them advantage. For the electricians, for example, they waive all requirements. So our individuals go directly to the testing and interview process of their of their assessment. So there's always an advantage if you go through our program, there's always an advantage to you getting into one of those construction trades.

Joe Cadwell:

And what can you tell our listeners, Karen, about the pre apprentice program? How does that work?

Karen Dove:

Yeah, the pre apprenticeship training is 12 weeks long, it's focused on a few different areas, we do physical fitness, because we want to get you ready physically for the trades, especially the women that we serve, we focus on their upper body strength, and make sure that they can meet the competencies, physical competencies of the apprenticeship programs, we do trades math, the average age of someone coming into the trades is actually around 28. And they haven't been doing fractions for about 1010 1214 years. So we do trades math, get them up to date, make sure they can use a tape measure, we do a lot of soft skills are essential skills, mock interviews, their application, we talked to them about their finances, so that when they are making money, they have a budget and they know what to do with that money. We talk to them about grit mindset and what it's like to be what they need to know to be a successful apprentice, and some advocacy and leadership training also. And then lastly, we do court construction, training and exposure. So learning about the tools and how to use those basic tools. It's a lot crammed into those 280 hours, but again, they get a large amount of exposure to trades and to partners. So we'll have the carpenters come in, for example. And they'll they'll do a interview with somebody from the carpenters union to ask them, How did you get into the trades? And what do you think we should do? If we want to be a successful apprentice and they get asked all those questions that they want to ask somebody that's in the trades. So we have people come in apprentices journey workers come in and talk to our students about how to be successful in those trades.

Joe Cadwell:

Oh, that sounds fantastic. And if someone was listening now, how would they be able to get into a pre apprenticeship program through your organization?

Karen Dove:

Right now is a good time to go online because we're all sitting at home. So you can go to www.anewp.org a new alp.org and our online session is right there. You can listen to a recorded info session or you can join one of our zoom info sessions that are done weekly, get more information and enroll right then.

Joe Cadwell:

I'll make sure to put that information in the show notes. And so we talked about pre apprentice you also talked about support services for people that are already in the many apprentice programs that are out there, so how does support services benefit our apprentices?

Karen Dove:

What we know is retention is a huge barrier. When it comes to the construction trades, we the average retention rate for the trades is about 40%. The average retention rates for people who've gone through our pre apprenticeship program is about 80%. So we know that we can give you a candidate who's more likely to stay in their apprenticeship and complete and part of that is because we can provide these financial support services for barriers that they come across during their apprenticeships. So say, six months into their apprenticeship, they've just been getting on their feet, and something happens to their vehicle, and they can't get to work and they don't have enough money to make that, that repair, they can come to us and we can help them with those repairs. Or maybe it's their first week of work and they got assigned to something in Seattle and parking is $28 a day. And they don't have that $150 to pay for parking the first week before they get their check. And so we can provide them with the funding to pay for that parking or get them to that job. And then we keep up with them for two years. And we make sure that they have what they need and that they're overcoming those obstacles and and learning to navigate when something does come up. How do you solve that problem without just being a no call, no show or just not going to work? So we help them navigate how to do that, and they become successful apprentices.

Joe Cadwell:

That sounds like the pre apprenticeship and support services for existing apprentices really work hand in hand and making make sure that folks that are looking at a career path in the trades are successful. So that's, that's fantastic. You had talked also about career exploration. And it sounds like you're reaching out into the schools to again, sort of shine a light on financial security as in the working class, middle class America through the trades. And what can you tell me about that program?

Karen Dove:

Yeah, when we ask people about apprenticeship, a lot of times people don't even know what apprenticeship is. And we talk about apprenticeship as the other four year degree, right? It's earning as you learn, and most people don't even know that you are earning a paycheck. While you're going through an apprenticeship. When we did a survey, most people didn't understand that. So what we're trying to do is give them options and let them know that there are other pathways, you don't have to go to college and get in debt. You can take another pathway into your career and still go to college, still get college credits, and be earning a family wage with benefits, which is another thing that you don't get there with, get out there with any job anymore. teaching them about apprenticeship and exposing them to the other four year degree is a really great option for youth right now whose parents often have student debt still that they're trying to pay off. So we we like to expose them to these career pathways. And the other thing we know is the construction industry is a growth industry for the next few years, because we haven't been recruiting for it. So it's an older population in the industry right now. We need to make sure we have enough younger people interested in joining the trades so that the older population can retire and enjoy the fruits of their labor for all those years. So it's definitely a growing, growing industry. And we know there's a lot of opportunity right now, especially for women and people of color in the construction industry.

Joe Cadwell:

So Karen, it sounds like the career exploration is really beneficial and introducing young people to career path as a professional trades person. And then you also mentioned diversity and equity outreach. What can you tell us about those programs?

Karen Dove:

Yeah, the rise up campaign is respect, inclusion, safety and equity in the construction trades. And this is a diversity Equity and Inclusion program that was created by the trades for the trades. so different than other diversity and equity programs or anti harassment training or any other type of culturally sensitive training. This one was actually developed for the construction trades, using examples from the industry and having the values of the industry of safety and productivity. So we help train new workers coming into the trades. We help train managers to give them the tools they need to create respectful workplaces. We want everyone on the worksite to know understand and know what acceptable behaviors are and what behaviors that are not acceptable look like. So harassment, hazing, bullying, we don't want those on the jobsite. So we're training them and giving them the tools to ensure that they can identify that behavior and stop that behavior. And we really believe that, from apprentices to foreman to superintendents, to the owner of the company, everybody can make it difference on the job site. No matter what position you are, you have an influence. And so we we teach people, how can you use your influence to help that job site become a respectful place where this type of hazing and harassment doesn't happen anymore.

Joe Cadwell:

That's for sure. This seems to be the third major cultural shift within the building trades. The first one starting with an attitude towards safety is a revision or redefinition of how the construction industry addressed drugs and alcohol in the trades. And now we're looking at this third and very important phase in which we understand what it truly means to be professionals in the in the building trades, to develop leadership skills, communication skills, and make a more inclusive and inviting career path for people who are interested in working not only with their their hands, but with their heads. And this sounds really great. It sounds a lot like the program that the training center that I work for down in Southwest Washington and Oregon, the Pacific Northwest Carpenters Institute, we developed a program called Positive Jobsite Culture a few years ago, and that is now being rolled out on regional council through that Northwest Carpenters Union, so we're very proud of that program and, and bringing that sort of, again, level of professionalism to the building trades.

Karen Dove:

Yeah. And you're absolutely right, when it comes to safety, when it comes to drug and alcohol abuse. And when it comes to the respectful environment or culture of the construction industry, they all play a part right? If if you're not being respected at work, if you're being harassed or bullied, do you go home and drink more? How do you deal with that? and safety if your mind is not on the work, but you're thinking about how you have to deal with so and so in five minutes, when you go to your next project? Then are you deal? Are you thinking about things from a safety perspective? They're all really tied together. So we need to make sure that it's a three legged stool if we don't have that respectful workplace there, that stool is gonna fall over?

Joe Cadwell:

That's absolutely right. Well, Karen, this has been a fantastic conversation, where can our listeners go to find out more information about the programs that you oversee?

Karen Dove:

The best place to go is the website a new aarp.org all our information is there on all our programs. And you can also reach out to me Karen@anewaop.org if you have any questions and I'm happy to help you.

Joe Cadwell:

Well, that was Karen Dove from a new and rise up and now we have Ameesha Lawton from The Urban League. Michelle Lawton, welcome to the show.

Ameesha Lawton:

Oh, hi. Hi, Joe. Thank you for having me.

Joe Cadwell:

Well, thank you for taking your time to be on the show. today. I'm really excited to introduce our listeners to The Urban League and the program that they offered to bring people into the trades. I was hoping you could tell us a little bit more about that.

Ameesha Lawton:

Sure. So the program was formally named Priority Higher. Now, starting in January 2021, we will be known as the Construction Trades Program. And in our program, we are a barrier removal service. So we remove all the barriers for those who are interested in going into the trades. We support them and we mentor them to ensure that they are on the right path and reach the goals that they set for themselves.

Joe Cadwell:

And just for our listeners, understanding this program is primarily up in the Seattle's Puget Sound area.

Ameesha Lawton:

Yes, it is.

Joe Cadwell:

And what type of barriers are we talking about removing in order to open up a career in the trades?

Ameesha Lawton:

It depends on what trade they want to go into. So what we'll do is we'll evaluate the requirements and the prerequisites for them to get into the trades. So if they need a driver's license, we can help with re licensing if they need a GED or high school diploma and they don't have that we can refer them to local colleges to ensure they they can obtain that and we can pay for that. We also can say they have a license but a broken down vehicle. We can help get their car repaired. We can help with transportation assistance, application fees, union dues, initiation fees, work gear, utilities, it just whatever it is to retain them. Rather they go to pre apprenticeship or registered apprenticeship programs.

Joe Cadwell:

That sounds like some great support services. Where do you get the funding for the Urban League?

Ameesha Lawton:

So we're grant funded right now. We are funded by about four different organizations. We accumulated maybe almost a million dollars of grants, funds to represent or assist our purchases, but it just varies per grant and what we're allowed to do. So we have to really abide by their the deliverables.

Joe Cadwell:

And how to people find out about The Urban League?

Ameesha Lawton:

Well, they can go to the website, www.UrbanLeague.org. And at current, it's under the priority hire tab, and within 2021, that have changed the construction trades, but my contact information is there, and they can reach out at any time.

Joe Cadwell:

So does Urban League do much outreach into the community go to the schools? Or how do people typically find out about the Urban League?

Ameesha Lawton:

Yes, we do our for our program, we do outreach, Urban League has a variety of different programs like for housing career bridge, which is a training program for those in from distressed communities as well. Also Home Buying class credit counseling classes, which I also refer pre apprentices or purchases that way as well. And also a infotech program. So we have a variety of things that we do in the community. My program just focuses on the trades. But we go to pre apprenticeship programs, we coordinate with their coordinators, if they have classes starting, we'll go and present at their classes. And that's our form outreach. And we can sign up people that are interested to get the support services to make sure that they're okay.

Joe Cadwell:

And I was introduced to you Ameesha through Mariana Talbot, from the NWCI, the Northwest Carpenters Institute, and I was really happy that she was able to connect us. And how many, percentage wise how many people do go into the carpenters that you see compared to the other trades?

Ameesha Lawton:

Everybody loves carpenters, we've done a lot of tiny house builds. So that's pretty much carpentry. And so say if someone doesn't have any skills, they come into one of our four week classes, right? But we build Tiny Homes. That's the focus. They love it. They love building from the ground up, and 90% of the class wants to go that way. So it's one of the most favorite trades here in Seattle, but they'd love to see their work completed.

Joe Cadwell:

I call that the step back moment where you actually are able to step back and put your hands on your hips and you know, wipe your brow and you look at Yeah, the the the efforts of all your hard work, right. That's tangible. Yeah. That's great. You know, I understand that there are other programs similar to yours, such as ANEW. Do you work in conjunction with the ANEW?

Ameesha Lawton:

Yes, we work closely with ANEW and we we do the same thing, but different realms because they also offer to pre apprenticeship programs, or three. So we can refer our participants that way, I kind of focus on where they stay where they live the area that they live in. So if they're south or way north, that would determine which way that I would kind of guide them. But then if a new has folks that are already in the trades, and they've may have exhausted funds with them, they'll reach out to urban Li to get assistance as well as relicensing. And I know a new works on getting a pre apprentice or folks enrolled in the apprentice program, financial assistance and acquiring tools and work gear does The Urban League do the same, we do the same only thing with the newest, they have to already be in the trades, we have the luxury of supporting them to get into the trades. So that's how we can work together, they might have somebody that come to them that doesn't qualify under their grant funds, like we can assist them as well. So we team up pretty pretty, pretty frequently.

Joe Cadwell:

And again, the intent of Oregon Urban League is to, to sort of introduce women, people of color, minority groups to a career path in the in the construction industry or the trades.

Ameesha Lawton:

Absolutely. And I also work closely with the Department of Corrections. Because that's the population that kind of slips through the cracks that has no goals, no motivation to like, Where can I go, what can I do? They may have done their time, but they're still punished when they come home. But the trades Do not judge you by your past. And so there is so many people that I work with that come out of prison that's working making 26 to $27 an hour starting and that that's the highlight of my job. That's what I love.

Joe Cadwell:

That is awesome. Yeah, that livable wage right out the gate the medical benefits for not only for the member for their family as well. access to training, the safer working conditions, the representation, and honestly when you get to my age, the potential for a a retirement with dignity because of our pension program. So it's, it's all great. Well Ameesha this has been a fantastic conversation. where can our listeners go to find out more about the Urban League?

Ameesha Lawton:

www. Urbanleague.org

Joe Cadwell:

All right, Ameesha. Well, thank you so much for taking your time to be on the show today.

Ameesha Lawton:

Thank you.

Joe Cadwell:

Our guest today have been Ameesha Lofton and Karen dove. To find out more about their valuable programs. Be sure to check out the hyperlinks in the show notes. Just below the soundbar on your smart device, and if you liked today's episode, please be sure to share it with a friend, family member or co worker. Grit Northwest is available on Apple podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google podcasts, and other podcast platforms as well as on the web at buildnw.org/podcast. Well that wraps up this episode of spotlight. Until next time, this is Joe Cadwell, reminding you to work safe, work smart and stay union strong