It’s been a good season of working alongside our local community. Following our Halloween Kids’ Builder Event at Triad Baptist Church Family Fall Fest, we recently wrapped up the Homes 4 Hounds project at Clubhouse Academy.

Homes 4 Hounds was born out of the desire to introduce local teenagers to the Trades, but quickly became something much more. Not only did they get introduced to construction, they got to see behind the scenes of what it takes to prepare for a project, build it with their own hands, and provide for a need in the community.

For many students, this was their first time using a hammer or drilling in a screw. We guided the students through each step of the construction process over 4 separate sessions over 4 weeks. They got to work with tools building something tangible for their neighbors, and learn some valuable skills!

Helping Kids Build Valuable Life Skills

Students being introduced to the trades at an early age is extremely important, because it provides them other options than the typical college/desk job route (that many over the past few decades have felt pushed into). They can use their hands to physically build something, or mental/social skills to better a company in their marketing, HR, sales, etc. It doesn’t even have to be with a big corporate company; there are many small businesses in our area that are growing and have a need for more workers.

But, we didn’t just teach them how to build a doghouse. They got to see what it takes to design one from scratch using key principles so that we solve a need, not create a problem. We determined that the doghouses needed to meet each of these criteria:

Safe
Sturdy
Snug
The right Size
Savings (Budget)
Simple

If the design didn’t meet all 6, the brainstormed idea got thrown out or adapted until it did. Once we all agreed on the components, the students even selected the materials we would use and designed what it would look like. This meant we were ready to build in Week 3.

The Finished Build and Powerful Takeaways For The Students

Week 3 was… chaos! But, it was epic! Within 6 hours the doghouses went from a pile of wood and screws to “mostly” framed doghouses. We did not finish in week 3, but by lunch time on week 4 we were completely finished with roomy, warm dog houses and delivered ALL 10 of them to the Dog Shelter to be given to the homes of formerly adopted dogs.

At the end of the event, all 52 students stood back and looked at something they literally designed out of thin air and brought into existence. This project expanded their minds of a few things:

What they thought was physically possible for them to accomplish,
That there’s an entire industry that most did not know they could participate in, and
They could do something that provides value to someone else’s life.

While Homes 4 Hounds started out as a way to introduce students to the trades, it became a milestone moment for their lives.