Ball State Department of Architecture faculty Professor Pam Harwood and Associate Professor Tom Collins are part of two grants recently awarded to ecoREHAB to initiate a Skilled Trades Education Program (STEP) for at-risk, under or unemployed youth in Muncie.  Working with Excutive Direct Jason Haney of ecoREHAB they will help develop STEP’s training curriculum that will prepare participants to seek work at construction firms. The program will be run out of CAP’s MadJax Makers Hub in downtown Muncie.

“The grants awarded will support a new pilot program entitled Skilled Trades Education Program (STEP).  The sixteen-week construction trade training course will be a combination of classwork, prototyping, job shadowing, and onsite training. STEP will expand ecoREHAB’s educational mission to help at-risk individuals, aged sixteen years and older, who seek introductory job training in the construction field.  This training will provide both technical training in the areas of carpentry, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. It will also introduce individuals to this career and provide foundational technical knowledge and soft skills, helping them decide whether they want to continue with technical training or enter directly into the workforce.”— Jason Haney

ecoREHAB of Muncie is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that emerged in 2009 from a Ball State University architecture studio designed to transform abandoned houses into sustainable homes. Haney works alongside students and community partners to educate, promote, and practice sustainable rehabilitation of homes in Muncie’s core urban communities.