Program Helps Woman Gain Knowledge In Skilled Trades

After completing a training program through HIRE360 and Climate Works, Myeisha Cook wants to apply for the carpenters union. Photo provided by Rise Strategy Group.
After completing a training program through HIRE360 and Climate Works, Myeisha Cook wants to apply for the carpenters union. Photo provided by Rise Strategy Group.


Program Helps Woman Gain Knowledge In Skilled Trades

By Tia Carol Jones

Myeisha Cook always had an interest in refurbishing furniture. She wanted to find a program that would help her enhance those skills. One of Cook’s family members who teaches a class for HIRE360 encouraged her to participate in the program because of her interest in carpentry.

Cook enrolled in the Climate Works pre-apprenticeship program and was one of nine participants who recently completed the program and participated in the graduation ceremony at Southwestern Illinois College. HIRE360 is a workforce development organization with the mission to train participants so they can meet the requirements of the construction industry. Through HIRE360’s programs in business development and supply chain, they are able to create opportunities in disinvested communities, as a way to help individuals and businesses thrive and grow.

Cook was one of two women in the program, which lasted for 10 to 12 weeks. She said all of the topics were interesting from the history of the union to the tools of the trade. Since the program, Cook has secured a position with Clancy Lighting and Savings. She does want to apply for the local Carpenters Union and to the MidAmerica Carpenters Training School, once she secures a carpenter’s job. She wants to take classes for project management, too, and go into woodworking once she is able to specialize.

Cook said she was there every day and on time and ready to participate. She gained valuable insights from the instructors in the program who were from the labor union, carpenters union and general contractor fields. She learned how to bid on jobs, as well as the practical and hands-on parts of the jobs. She said she was also encouraged by the instructors.

“They always told us there is a space for everybody, you just have to figure out what you want to do and go for it,” she said.

Cook said she was surprised about the thought processes of the men in the program who weren’t sure a woman was capable of doing the same tasks as they were. She said she would always speak up for herself and the other women in the trades and would let them know that women were just as capable as men to perform any tasks they were asked to do.

“Nobody can sit me in a room with a man or a woman and tell me that I’m not qualified because I am a woman, or because I am smaller,” she said. She added that because she is smaller in stature, she knows that she does not look like what people would expect for a carpenter to look like. At 5’3”, Cook said that she is smart and capable of learning anything.

Cook said while there was a lot of book work and reading instruction ahead of the hands-on training. She said learning the practical book work and the history of the union made her more knowledgeable. She said it was a good opportunity to get her foot in the door and she was exposed to a lot of different aspects of the trades.

“It’s definitely an informative program, so I would definitely recommend it,” she said.

For more information about HIRE360 and its programs, visit www.hire360chicago.com.

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