Women in the Building Trades

CONTACT:

555 Amory Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
617-524-3010

Etty Padmodipoetro, President

DESCRIPTION:

Nearly 85 percent of people living in poverty are working mothers and their children. These women work in low-paying, unskilled jobs, with few (if any) benefits. Women in the Building Trades (WIBT) was founded in 1986 to help provide such women with a route to self-sufficiency through the skilled building trades — "good jobs, with great benefits".

The building boom in Boston has created enough demand to make way for women. WIBT provides 60 of them each year with pre-apprenticeship training, information about the working environment, expectations and obstacles, as well as hands-on projects, weight training, and math skills development. WIBT also runs an after-school "Youth Project" in which successful tradeswomen inspire 400 younger women annually to gain self-confidence and expand their career horizons.

WIBT graduates are a special group, many of whom have moved from homelessness to home ownership. This is a small charity that needs to grow. You can help make that happen.

(2001: HUMAN SERVICES: Girls and Women: General)