SANTA FE COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – Friday morning, three new tiny homes were unveiled at an event in Santa Fe, showcasing the hard work of young people getting involved in construction.
“I like that I’m able to put my creativity into something that can benefit people,” ECO High School construction student Sasha Romero said. “They had us put recommendations and speak on what we wanted to do. They even let us design what colors we wanted. So I get to put a big part of my creativity into construction.”
Sasha Romero is 15 years old and has always wanted to get involved in architecture. She started this tiny house project as a freshman at ECO High School in Santa Fe, which stands for Early College Opportunities.
“There’s a lot of people in high school that wanna start making money right away, and going into the trades is a really good way for people in high school to make money right away without having to go deeply in debt,” Thomas Treece said with the Santa Fe Home Builders Association.
Treece said in the last 25 years working with the Santa Fe Home Builders Association, he has seen people age out of construction at a high rate, with not many young people coming in to fill those spots. “The National Homebuilders Association has calculated that we are going to be 200,000 tradespeople short every year over the next 10 years because older people like myself are transitioning out of construction into retirement,” Treece said.
Treece went on to say that for every seven people retiring, only one person is filling the gap. He said he would like to see more teenagers, dropouts or not, get training to go into the field.
“Youth involvement in construction is very important,” Treece said. “In Santa Fe, there’s a very high dropout rate. If they have experience with trades in high school, then hopefully the local homebuilders will accept them into their companies to become apprentices in the trade.”
Along with ECO, Youthworks is a year-long program for high school dropouts ages 16-24. They get on-the-job training in a trade of their choosing as well as payment.
“They get a good year of construction experience building with Habitat for Humanity,” Youthworks construction trainer Johnny Gee said. “So they get the knowledge of affordable housing. They’re getting practical skills, soft skills, hard skills, power tools, framing, drywall, slabs. Pretty much everything that goes into building a house.”
At the end of their training, their instructor then helps connect them with a job or apprenticeship. “It’s helped me learn, afford my GED, and know that I’m not the only one struggling to build my future,” Youthworks construction crew member Manuel Trujano said. “And knowing I have a little help to get a nice, good job after getting my GED. Knowing I didn’t make it through school, but I still have an opportunity, and those doors are still open for me.”
“It’s a good balance of work and schoolwork,” Youthworks construction crew member James Montoya said. “And it helps with an income as well while you’re doing what you need to do. And it helps you with your future.”
Romero said she hopes to inspire younger people who were in her shoes and pass her knowledge down. “I would love to work with younger people, like middle schoolers, because I know a lot of people that did want to start construction, and being a girl, you get dimmed for it,” Romero said. “I would love to give people the courage to go do that.”
This fall, the three tiny homes will be delivered to the Esperanza shelter in Santa Fe. “I have a lot of friends that are in Esperanza shelter, and their stories are very hard,” Romero said. “So this hits a part for me because knowing that this is gonna go to people that need it like them.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
