New Women in the Trades Group Gets ‘Into the Mix’

Taronda “Joy” Graham is a DC resident working hard to turn her life around and support her mother. She and 14 other women have found a new start with the Washington Area Women in the Trades Program, (WAWIT). The 15 women recently finished a two week apprenticeship training with Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 891. The training, part of the second cycle of WAWIT program, gave the women a crash course in cement masonry work. “The women are willing to get in there and do what it takes to learn and get the job done,” said Local 891 apprenticeship instructor Lewis Allen of the WAWIT participants. “Their desire to learn shows in their performance. It’s great,” said Cement Masons Apprenticeship Director Jim Miller. “Being able to succeed at something I like working at is very important to me,” says Graham, who was offered a full-time apprenticeship position with Local 891 when she graduates from WAWIT in September. Since it was formed in 2004, WAWIT has helped women, like Graham, build work preparation skills and find and retain jobs that offer greater economic security to meet the demands of the regional workforce. WAWIT is a collaborative partnership between the YWCA of the National Capital Area, the Community Services Agency (CSA) and Wider Opportunities for Women. Along with the Cement Masons Local 891, WAWIT participants have also been placed in union apprenticeship training programs with the Joint Carpentry Apprenticeship Committees, Sheet Metal Workers Local 100, and Construction Craft Laborers. “We could not do this without the continued support of our Building Trades partners,” said CSA Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy. “Their work has helped to change the lives of these women,” adds McKirchy. Taronda Graham (above left in black shirt and hat) and Marilyn Cooper mixing cement; (right) Lewis Allen and WAWIT participants practice smoothing out poured cement
-Report by Jackie Barnes/photo by Andy Richards