TULSA, Okla. — On Monday, the Tulsa County Board of Commissioners declared March 5-11 as National Association of Women in Construction Week. It’s a first for Tulsa. Meanwhile, a first-of-its-kind program is underway in Tulsa designed to help more women create careers in construction.
"I'm excited about it. Eventually, I want to build my own house. And make my dream home," says Delicia Williams, one of the program's participants.
And when Delicia Williams dreams of her future, it's one built on big dreams.
"All my life, I've been interested in doing something in housing. First, it was architecture, then I realized I was bad at math, so I changed into interior design, and it eventually came to where I wanted to help build houses," said Williams.
And now, a new non-profit is giving women like Williams the tools to do just that. It's called Women Accessing Non-Traditional Trades or WANTT.
Laura Stauffer is one of the co-founders.
"Our goal is two-fold. One is to get women to earn a living wage, and the other is to expose them to the construction industry and skills", says Stauffer.
There aren't many women in construction in Oklahoma.
"The statistic I keep quoting, and I've heard, is that only 3% of construction workers are women in this state," says Stauffer.
The non-profit's inaugural class is changing that with women like Felicha Battle.
"Women are coming into the field. So appreciate the help, respect the help and love it 'cause we are coming to help," says Battle.
Stauffer adds, "We might not have the brawn, but we have the brains. So everybody approaches a job differently, and what women can bring to the construction field and construction is a different way of looking at things."
WANTT is a free eight-week pre-apprenticeship training program teaching women the needed skills. It's everything from construction math to CPR.
"I've learned different tools to work with. I've learned OSHA. I've gotten a real refresher on math, fractions, and all that good old stuff that I haven't seen in many years," says Battle.
"They will have basic skills that will take them to a job where they'll have the confidence to do a good job," says Stauffer.
The program is made possible by grants and donations.
Local companies like Hilti provide refurbished tools, and Tulsa Tech donated the classroom space.
"I am working on getting my life together. To be able to do this for free, I have no words for it. It's truly a blessing," says Williams.
The women spend 8-hour days three days a week in the program.
Mornings center on construction skills, while afternoons focus on life skills.
"Those life skills will help them learn how to communicate better, how to deal with conflict, how to keep a checking account," says Stauffer.
And while they're re-tooling careers and leadership skills, a sisterhood is being formed here too.
"It may be tough to be the only woman on a job site, and this way, you'll have someone to call or reach out to and say hey, this happened to me. What do you think? Things like that are really helpful," says Stauffer.
The program is just a few weeks in, and the students say it's already building a solid foundation for a brighter tomorrow.
"This gives me the opportunity to explore and get to where I want to be in life," says Wiliams.
" I'm excited about my future. To be hands-on. To be one of the pilot women in the WANTT program, to show them how it's done and that it can be done!" says Battle.
WANNT is planning a job fair for when the women graduate and is currently welcoming companies to join in on that fair. The non-profit is also seeking more donations and now has a matching grant. For more information on that or to apply for the next cohort, click here: https://wantt.org/.
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