Organization Will Use Donated Tools to Introduce Youth to Careers in the Trades!
House of Heroes Connecticut will utilize a recent major donation from Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) to combine its mission to provide one-day, no-cost home repairs to military and public safety veterans in need with a training program introducing Connecticut youth to the construction trades and community service.
House of Heroes Connecticut (HOHCT) is honored to have been recently named as a Stanley Black & Decker Makers Grant Recipient, part of the company’s first “Empower Makers” Global Impact Challenge. Initiated in 2021, the Global Impact Challenge grant program will award up to $25 million in grant funding over the next five years to nonprofits that are supporting trade workforce development initiatives in the construction and manufacturing sectors.
With the first applications submitted in October 2021, 240 entrants were evaluated based on number of people served, outcomes projected, sustainable impact, depth of programs, and diversity, among many other considerations. HOHCT was selected as one of 86 organizations that will help skill and re-skill roughly 180,000 makers throughout 2022.
“We are excited to partner with Stanley Black & Decker to not only help introduce Connecticut youth to trade careers, but to do so while engaging them in the noble mission of helping Connecticut veterans in need,” said Carol May Executive Director of HOHCT. “This is a perfect match combining youth workforce development with community service, and we can’t wait to get to work.” As a Makers Grant Recipient, HOHCT will use thousands of dollars in donated Stanley Black &Decker tools to develop classes for youth in the construction trades, on-site at upcoming 2022 HOHCT veteran service projects throughout the state as well as off-site. The organization’s new partnership with Connecticut Carpenters Union, Local 326, will play a key role in maximizing the effort.
“Stanley Black & Decker is immensely proud to support House of Heroes Connecticut as it works to skill and re-skill the next generation of trade professionals,” said Stanley Black & Decker Vice President of Social Impact, Diane Cantello. “Currently in the U.S., there are an estimated 650,000 open construction jobs and 10 million unfilled manufacturing jobs globally. Our purpose is to support ‘Those Who Make the World,’ and being able to fund educational programs and non-profits that are revitalizing trade careers directly connects to our core mission. Thanks to this year’s Makers Grant Recipients, together we will be one step closer to closing the trade skills gap.”
To learn more about Stanley Black & Decker’s “Empower Makers” Global Impact Challenge, all of this
year’s recipients and how non-profits may submit for the upcoming application period, please visit