June 28, 2019

Devastated young construction workers in St. John’s get outpouring of support after tools stolen

As reported on Yahoo News, young construction workers were floored earlier this week after arriving at their St. John’s job site to discover many of their tools had vanished overnight.

It was a loss compounded by the nature of the project itself; Impact Construction is a training program for vulnerable youth that teaches them hands-on skills they can one day bring to the job market.

About $2,000 in protective equipment and tools were taken from a locked shed after thieves forced their way inside.

The discovery was a disappointment, said Chelsey MacNeil, director of employment at Choices for Youth.

“This a program that the youth have been involved in for four months. They’re a great crew and they’re so connected — not only with the program, but also with one another.”

The workers had paid for some of their tools out of pocket, MacNeil said.

Impact Construction was halfway through an eight-month build on Cashew Avenue, said employment co-ordinator Dave Banfield.

The finished product will provide five affordable housing units for young mothers.

“Instead of just getting a construction company to build that for us, we’re created this program where we can get youth in our community very real, significant job experience,” Banfield said.

“They’re getting very attached to this project and they’re having a real sense of pride in building this housing unit.… They’re just about getting ready to put the roof on.”

That progress was only briefly halted after the theft, however; when local tradespeople caught wind of the setback, they dropped by with donations for the crew.

Replacement tools piled up as word spread on social media.

Keep reading on Yahoo News

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