Non-Profit Aims to Help Construction Workers in Need
A career in construction can be extremely rewarding. But for African-Americans in the industry, the road to success is often paved with obstacles, including systemic racial bias, that make it more challenging to find work. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has added an extra layer of stress for a large segment of African-American tradespeople whose opportunities are increasingly limited as construction projects have slowed down.
When they are between jobs, many of these workers struggle to cover their essential living expenses, leaving them vulnerable to food insecurity and homelessness. All of this can have a devastating impact on the workers and their families.
For the staff at Communities Empowered Through Construction, these stories of struggle were all too common among the population they serve, so they decided to answer the call for help. Construction Cares is a non-profit organization that was born out of the CEC’s desire to support often overlooked and underserved members of the construction community. Giving these workers a helping hand allows them to focus on finding viable employment opportunities.
“In the construction industry, African-Americans are usually the last hired and the first fired,” said Executive Director, Rachel Ivy. “We want to be there to support them when things get tough.”
Construction Cares’ core initiatives include providing financial support, mentoring opportunities, and educational workshops for construction workers in need. Their efforts have ranged from offering rental assistance for needy workers to providing a care basket and gift card for a construction worker who had recently lost three members of her family. Ivy adds that Construction Cares is unique to other support organizations because they are focused on the mental and emotional well-being of this segment of the construction community, something she believes is often overlooked. “People don’t always value mental health. We want to be there to provide mental and emotional support to a group of people who are dealing with a lot of stuff at once,” she said.
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