St. Vinnie’s gets grant to continue “Shed-ucation” program | News

CROW, Ore. – Saint Vincent De Paul and KeyBank are partnering up to give high-schoolers an education in construction skills while providing help for the underserved.

Thanks to a $150,000 grant, St. Vinnie’s is continuing its “shed-ucation” initiative through which local students in Career Technical Education courses build sheds. Those sheds are then installed at mobile home parks operated by St. Vinnie’s. Organizers say it has a three-pronged benefit, with students getting hands-on experience, local employers and labor pools get workers with building and construction skills, and mobile home parks getting facility upgrades.

“We do need carpenters, we need electricians, we need plumbers, we need all those trades to be filled, and we just don’t have enough kids coming through in those vocational trainings,” said Terry McDonald, the executive director of St. Vinnie’s. “By giving them the opportunity in an educational program setting like this, to actually be in school and learn some of these skills, will help us develop those trades in the future”

Along with benefits to students, labor pools and St. Vinnie’s mobile home parks, low-income families get new high-quality sheds to secure bicycles, landscaping equipment and other items not suitable for storage inside their homes.

St Vinnie’s also recently got a $150,000 from KeyBank to keep up the program. KeyBank officials said the funds are toy be used to help offset the costs of materials, transportation and labor associated with the new sheds, as well as the demolition and removal of existing ones.

“We enjoy and appreciate the ability to donate meaningfully and see our communities thrive,” said Josh Lyons, KeyBank’s market president for Oregon. “When we talk about what this specific program is doing in terms of providing skills, education and confidence for these kids throughout middle school and high school and preparing them for careers outside of high school, is incredibly exciting for us.”