Job Corps Scores

Friday brought students to the Remodelers'' Show in Detroit, and one of the most welcome groups was the one from the Detroit Job Corps. You see, these students helped build The Community Addition, our Model reMODEL 2000.

Jim Hangii, the Job Corps instructor, and his class of 15 or so students worked with Adam Helfway, CR, and his company, Fairway Construction, to build the project at the Detroit Job Corps facility. This is a new facility, a fact that will become important in a minute.

For now, though, these students were on the Remodelers'' Show floor to experience an industry trade show. More importantly for them-and us-they were on the floor to see the Model reMODEL. This was their handiwork, their effort, and they wanted to see the finished project.

Some of the students just stood and stared; the project had been turned into the Professional Remodeler booth at the show. Fully merchandised, painted and lit up, the project was indeed impressive. The students wandered through the project, looking at the finishes, inspecting the areas that they personally had built.

At one point, Hangii rounded up his students for a portrait on the steps leading into the Model reMODEL. This photo will be a reminder of their efforts.

But the great part of the Model reMODEL partnership with Job Corps isn't a photograph. The project transcended the short time it was on the floor and the weeks it was in production at the Job Corps facility. This partnership provided a solid demonstration of what the Job Corps brings to the remodeling and home building industries. Students who graduate this program come out trained and ready to step into a remodeler's business. In fact, Fairway has offered a couple of these students an opportunity to work.

Keith Albright, vice president, placement service for the Home Builders Institute, was able to use the Model reMODEL project as an opportunity to introduce attendees to the Job Corps. He spoke with remodelers about the program and its potential benefits to the industry.

The project itself, which was shipped to the show floor, has been shipped back to the Detroit Job Corps facility. This is a new facility, as mentioned earlier, so it needs to be fitted out for students to be able to learn from the hands-on experiences that are so important. That's where Model reMODEL 2000 completes its mission of drawing attention to and highlighting the efforts of student labor available through Job Corps. The project is now a training module in Detroit where students can practice various renovations on the module, such as window and flooring replacement.