One of the most asked questions high schoolers get is what’s next?
A local program is helping youth answer that question and providing them with skills for their future.
"I never knew how to use any type of power-tool before I came here," Lucy Lopez, a indigenous youth intern with Home Resource in Missoula, spent her summer learning hands on skills in building trades. The program is designed to assist youth transition after high school.
"I learned something new everyday," Lopez said. Through one-on-one mentorship, interns learned how to do framework, build small structures and responsibilities of employment.
"Providing that one on one like hey this is what a wood screw is," Gunner Nemeth, Youth Internship Coordinator with Home Resource said, "just providing that grounded real perspective of how to move forward in life."
Interns also learn how to be environmentally conscious in trades and their impact to the environment.
"I’ve learned so much about sustainability and reusing materials that I never knew about," Lopez said, "I didn’t even know that you could recycle metal."
The programs focus has launched former youth into careers, some now working for local businesses.
"I wish I had a program like this growing up, a little bit of the transition to the workforce, not just you graduated and your on your own," Nemeth said.
"I don’t know what I want to do yet, but this has opened many doors," Lopez said, "and made me realize things I don’t want to do, narrowed it down, but I think I want to go into something like this."
This program is offered each season of the year for youth interested in applying. Find more information here.
