Rebuilding Hope is partnering with the Triangle Literacy Council (TLC) in a first-of-its- kind pilot program to help young men and women in Vance County earn a GED.
The program, Constructing Pathways to Prosperity (P2P), is part of the GED curriculum. Students earn the equivalency diploma while getting hands-on job skills training in the construction industry, according to program manager Jason Williams.
In its role, RHI will provide students with opportunities to build wheelchair ramps and complete other projects, provide tools and materials and supervise the completion of jobs.
“This is a six-month, full-time program with 15 participants at a time,” Mr. Williams says. “It runs four days a week with two days dedicated to the education component and two days spent on the construction site.”
P2P is designed for “ages 16-24 to help rebuild their communities and their lives,” according to program information. “This program will work specifically with youth who have come to the attention of the justice system, are low-income, or have not attained a high school diploma or equivalency and are not currently attending public school.”
The P2P instructor for the component, which meets Wednesdays and Fridays, is a licensed contractor.
Upon completion of the program, students earn a construction certificate, Mr. Williams says, and receive assistance in finding a job.
Students meet Tuesdays and Thursdays for the education component. Classes are conducted at the Gang Free building on County Home Road.
Students in the GED program are paid $50 a week and an additional $10 an hour when they’re on a P2P job, he says.
Mr. Williams says that funding comes from a $300,000 U.S. Department of Commerce grant won by the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments and runs through June 2019.