3 minute read
The ripple effect of community partnerships -
The ripple effect of community partnerships
Paving the road to construction careers, homeownership
The partnership between Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity and Rockford Public Schools has revealed a kaleidoscope of incredible and moving moments.
One of these moments rose to the surface. The school band was playing, school administrators were buzzing about and students were giddy with pride to reveal the fruits of their year-long effort.
It was the home dedication day for our very first Guilford High School partnership-build.
One of the students, Keonte, had invited his mom, Tammy Wofford, to join for the ceremony. Standing on that driveway, Tammy was incredibly moved to realize the impact of her son’s accomplishments in his senior year. He had built a house from the ground up. While this came with its own enormous intrinsic reward, it came with something so much greater — the knowledge this house would change the life of the family of five that was ready to purchase it.
As Tammy toured the home, admiring the quality of the students’ work and the design of the house, she was reminded of her own longtime goal to buy a similar place to call home for her own family. At the end of the ceremony, Tammy approached me and asked what it took to become a homeowner with Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity.
The following year, Tammy — who is an office professional at Ellis Elementary — was approved for a mortgage with Habitat and began the process of building and buying a home. As fate would have it, Tammy was offered the address that would be that year’s Guilford partnershipbuild. The same teacher that taught her son how to build a home was now going to teach that year’s students how to build hers. Keonte was often able to join and mentor them.
When I think about the legacy of this partnership, and the lives it has changed, I don’t just think about the high school students getting a great education. I think about people like Tammy, who was inspired to pursue homeownership because her son had this life-changing opportunity at school. I think about the young men and women who have gone on to get jobs in the trades because they were exposed to them in their high school curriculum. I think about the subcontractors who have hired graduates of RPS 205 because they saw the exemplary work they accomplished as students.
The investment RPS 205 has made in college and career readiness has changed the lives of so many students in our city. Giving students an opportunity to learn construction trades, exposing them to the careers awaiting them — all while creating housing solutions for the broader community — is a monumental victory for our public schools.
I am so proud and humbled to be a small part of it.
Keri Asevedo is executive director of Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity.
The views expressed are those of Asevedo’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.
