Program Made Possible Thanks to Stanley Black & Decker Makers Grant
Hamden, Conn., July 20, 2022 – Thanks to a Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) Makers Grant earlier this year of thousands of dollars in donated tools, House of Heroes Connecticut (HOHCT) is providing invaluable lessons to Connecticut youth about careers in the trades and the value of community service.
In April, Stanley Black & Decker donated a storage shed full of power and hand tools to House of Heroes Connecticut as part of the company’s first “Empower Makers” Global Impact Challenge. Initiated in 2021, the Global Impact Challenge grant program is awarding up to $25 million in grant funding over five years to nonprofits that are supporting trade workforce development initiatives in the construction and manufacturing sectors. HOHCT was selected as one of 86 organizations that will help skill and reskill roughly 180,000 makers throughout 2022.
The tools are being used by the non-profit veterans service organization not only at multiple 2022 projects providing no-cost home repairs to veterans in need, but also to provide carpentry lessons to youth both at HOHCT projects, where they get first-hand exposure to community service, and in workshops coordinated and managed by the organization.
In 2022, HOHCT has provided trades skills lessons to, among others, Job Corps students, Knights of Columbus Columbian Squires, students from Quinnipiac University, students from Plainville High School, carpentry students in partnership with Connecticut Carpenters Union, Local 326 and Scouts from various troops of the Girl Scouts of Connecticut.
During two recent workshops conducted by HOHCT carpenters with 45 Girl Scouts from Ansonia, East Windsor, Milford, North Haven, Watertown and other communities, Scouts built a message board, learned how to nail, measure, use speed squares and screw guns, and then built their own toolboxes.
“At Girl Scouts of Connecticut we like to expose girls to a variety of different career opportunities, especially those that may never have occurred to them to explore. We are grateful to House of Heroes and Stanley Black & Decker for introducing our Girl Scout Cadettes and Seniors to Carpentry 101,” said Ellyn Savard, Senior Manager, STEM Experience for Girl Scouts of Connecticut. “Whether they decide to make carpentry their life’s work, or simply feel comfortable using hand and power tools, this workshop was an important step to making that happen.”