Sometimes All You Need is a Little Hope

When Nora El-Khouri Spencer and her husband bought their first home together, she realized many of her desired renovations were out of their personal budget. 

Nora had never been a hands-on sort of person, but she got to work learning everything she could about handiwork, construction, renovations, and the like.

• Taking lessons from contractors and learning from YouTube, Nora started realizing something abundantly clear: almost none of the people teaching her were women. 

🚧 Out of balance... Nora's observation was right on the money. In fact, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, women comprise less than 4% of workers in construction trades like carpentry, plumbing, and electrical work – which can pay up to double that of restaurant and hospitality careers.

👷‍♀️ There was obviously an opportunity gap, and Nora has made it her mission to help build a bridge. 

🛠 Bridging the gap... So she founded Hope Renovations, a non-profit organization created to "empower women to pursue living-wage jobs in the construction trades via our hands-on training program." 

• The organization offers a free 10-week program that teaches women and non-binary people the skills and certifications they need to find well-paying jobs in the construction trades. 
• Since its founding in 2020, more than 40 students have graduated from the program. Two-thirds of them have gone on to find jobs in the industry. 
• “We have folks from all walks of life that come to us… single moms, women in recovery, women who are just re-careering,” said Nora. “All kinds of different people coming together and finding a shared excitement.”

👵 But wait, there's more: Hope Renovations is also helping elderly people stay safe in their homes; part of the hands-on training involves students and teachers completing projects on homes around the community.

• Most of the time, these projects are done on the homes of elderly people, such as installing a ramp on a older woman's home who uses a cane. 
• The team has already completed 130 projects for those in need.