Project TRADE
Ex-offenders get the education and trades training they need to create a path to success in the residential construction industry through Project TRADE (Training, Restitution, Apprenticeship Development Employment). Project TRADE students learn about housing industry careers while they earn an industry-recognized pre-apprenticeship certification that contains green building and weatherization skills. Once they have the certification, Project TRADE helps them find a job, continue their education or join the military.
HBI currently offers a Project TRADE program in facilities maintenance at the Woodside Work Release Center in Harrisburg, Pa., to women who earn their release from the Dauphin County Prison. Project TRADE Sheridan trains non-violent offenders with a significant substance abuse history at the Sheridan Correctional Center, a nationally-recognized therapeutic community in Sheridan, Ill.
HBI delivers pre-apprenticeship certificate training (PACT) in masonry, facilities maintenance, plumbing, carpentry and electrical wiring at Project TRADE Sheridan. Because of prison regulations regarding community access, inmates complete the community service requirement of their pre-apprenticeship certificate by participating in projects at the prison like building panelized homes for non-profit organizations in Chicago and Pontiac, Mich.; fashioning bat racks for local little league teams and completing renovation projects on the prison grounds.
For more information about starting a Project TRADE program in your community, contact John Hattery at 202-607-3397.