HSH participants build stability with skilled trades

This week Home Suite Hope’s social media celebrated the graduation of one of our participants and how, as she searches for employment and future qualifications and apprenticeship opportunities to build upon what she has started, she put her skills to use paying it back to HSH.

Faith recently graduated from the Construction and Maintenance Electrician Pre-Apprentice Diploma program at the Skilled Trades College of Canada. The college was quick to reply on our social, too, with  “Hats off to you, Faith! Completing your diploma is just the beginning of your bright career ahead.”

Indeed! HSH itself had a need to draw on Faith’s skills and was happy to have the connection to her.

HSH moves single parents from homelessness and poverty to stability and self-suffiency.

Its Homeward Bound Halton (HBH) program stabilizes single parents and their families, offers a rental subsidy and support as well as a bursary to a two-year diploma program at Sheridan College and follow-up employment search support.

HBH is a four-year program but HSH also offers other pathways to stability. Its Stabilizing First program is one year, and it has new programs like Pathways Forward and Haven to Home which offer support to single parents, not just moms, as well as to women fleeing domestic abuse. Some already have skills and careers, but need to rebuild their lives.

Skilled Trades is an excellent option for future earnings and employment opportunities – and are often not given the consideration they are due.

Sheridan College offers skilled trades studies as does the Skilled Trades College of Canada, which is headquartered in Vaughan but has nearly half a dozen campuses, including one on North Service Road in Oakville.

Faith is not the only HSH program participant to see the value of a skilled trades path to stability.

Just last year, Brittany and Chantell both graduated in the field.

Brittany graduated with Honours from Sheridan College’s Welding and Fabrication Program.

She was also invited as a guest speaker to the 20th anniversary industry educational forum hosted by the Hamilton Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) Association in Burlington. Industry professionals like Brittany were on hand to present, as well as local high school and college students who shared about their experiences in welding. Brittany presented some creative examples of her welding, and spoke about her welding journey. She was  the only female welder to present at what was a great opportunity for networking with those in the industry.

Chantell graduated from the Construction and Maintenance Electrician Pre-Apprentice Program at the Skilled Trades College (STC). Chantell has also received designations in Working at Heights, First Aid and CPR, Lockout and Tagouts, as well as Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System.  

The Skilled Trades College was established to provide individuals with the hands-on skills and knowledge required to begin a career in the skilled trades industry. STC programs focus on safety knowledge, theory, and hands-on experience through simulated work environments in the lab. The hands-on work provides young adults and those looking to change careers with the fundamentals necessary to begin an apprenticeship in the skilled trades.

According to its website, the high demand for skilled pre-apprentice labour combined with the strong construction industry growth has encouraged the college to expand to offer a larger spectrum of pre-apprentice programs. Today with five campuses conveniently located to serve Toronto and the GTA; STC has graduated over 1,000 students and prepared them for a career in the skilled trades.

Others are supporting the advancement of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields, too.

Home Suite Hope is grateful for the support of the Paul Barber Foundation.

This Foundation, established in 2021, supported HSH with a 2024 Female Leadership and Empowerment Grant to help HSH promote gender equality for women in settings where they are underrepresented, such as STEM and the trades. It also recently stepped in to assist with transportation challenges faced by one of our moms who was trying to juggle public transportation and start times that were not compatible.

The Paul Barber Foundation (PBF) is a family-run organization based in the Greater Toronto Area dedicated to improving the lives of Canadians by supporting transformational life-changing programs, Canada-wide.

HSH is grateful to be a recipient of this Foundation’s support in addition to the long-standing support of Sheridan College.

HSH is so proud of the trio of women who have begun their journey to stability through the skilled trades!