She Built This City teaches women construction, repair skills
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — More than 80 years ago, Rosie the Riveter became a cultural icon, inspiring women to fill the jobs left by men as they went off to fight in World War II.
Now, a new generation of Rosies is teaching young women to fill more jobs traditionally held by men. They're learning the ins and outs of construction and home repair with an organization called She Built This City, and it's with support from the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.
Check out the difference Community Foundations are making here in the Piedmont Triad
The whir of saw blades and the pounding of a hammer with women building something more than just a wall or shelf. She Built This City started in Charlotte and expanded into Greensboro. The nonprofit helps women learn trades such as carpentry, plumbing, painting and electrical work. But safety is always first.
'First they learn basic safety and they learn about OSHA. They get an OSHA 10 certification through us as well. Then they learn tools. They learn how to use them properly,' says Shamilya Mitchell-Goss, the program manager for the Greensboro chapter. She believes in having all people learn a trade.
'Honestly, anyone that applies that wants a career in the skilled trades and is serious about it can get into the program,' says Mitchell-Goss, 'but again, we target women.'
The nine-week program covers a lot of information and includes hands-on experience. Every student builds one of these three-by-three mini walls. Learning how to frame joists, install plumbing, and wire an electrical outlet. By the time they are done, they have applied the basics of all the trades to this one little wall.
'I'm able to do plumbing in my own house. I'm able to install. I have holes from the kids. I'm able to be able to fix those holes, patch them up,' says Carolyn Boston. She learned from the program that construction is much more than hammering a wall or cutting boards. She's learned skills she wants to pass down to her children.
'It's easier to just call somebody to come and do everything for me,' she says. 'But initially I would like to be able to do it for myself, being as though I have boys. I wanted to be able to show them how they can use their hands.'
Like Boston, many of the women who take part in the program are trying to better themselves and their families. Mitchell-Goss says construction work is perfect because it offers long-term job security.
'Skilled trades are the only jobs that can't be done by robots,' she says. 'They can't be automated, and you can start as an electrician making the low 6 figures, meaning if we train a woman properly and she goes into the electrical field, we can pull her and her family out of generational poverty in four years.'
Like Rosie the Riveter decades ago, the 'we can do it' attitude still lives strong for women willing to get their hands dirty in a male-dominated field. Carolyn Boston says she would tell other women 'to have an open mind and be ready to work with your hands.'
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