Community Services Agency: Building Futures Apprenticeship Outreach & Recruitment Project  

Staff on the project
Sylvia Casaro, Project Coordinator 202-974-8223
Kathleen McKirchy, Executive Director 202-974-8221

The Building Futures Project was originally funded in 2006 through a grant from the DC Department of Employment Services. Since the start of the program, the Community Services Agency (CSA) has placed over 210 DC residents into union construction apprenticeship programs or into pre-apprenticeship leading to full entry into a trade as part of the project.
 
With a small grant from the Community Foundation of Prince George's County through the National Harbor grants and contributions from the Metro Washington Union Community Fund and Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO, the CSA have expanded the Building Futures Project to Prince George's County. The CSA has also developed partnerships with Adams House, TradePrep, the Family and Child Services Programs of District Heights and College Park, and other non-profits serving as a source of clients for the project, adding to the formal partnerships already established with over 30 DC-based community organizations.
 
The local union construction apprenticeship programs, which are registered programs with Maryland, DC and Virginia, provide 2-5 years of paid learning in the classroom and on the job and lead to family-sustaining careers in a growing industry.