July 2, 2020 – Re:Purpose Savannah was recently awarded a $10,000 community action grant by The American Association of University Women (AAUW). The two year grant was awarded for their Apprenticeship Program for women here in Savannah, GA.
AAUW Awards community action grants provide funding to innovative programs or non-degree research projects that promote education and equity for women and girls.
With the grant, Re:Purpose will initiate a curriculum for a one-year paid apprentice program in deconstruction for up to four women per year, and will have a fully developed standard curriculum for the program at the end of the two-year grant period. The program will help promote education and equity for women, promote women’s advancement in the construction/deconstruction fields, and provide leadership training. The curriculum will include tool use and safety, deconstruction engineering, salvaged material management, job site and project management, estimating and proposal development, and reuse market development.
At the end of one year, apprentices will have the opportunity to not only begin a career in deconstruction, but to be prominent in the field, able to start their own businesses and offer training to others in this very specialized, growing industry.
Mae Bowley, Executive Director of Re:Purpose stated, “It is an honor to be supported by the AAUW, to be among the generations of working women who have been bolstered by this fund. The support of AAUW and the work of countless beneficiaries before us have created the space for us to do our work, here and now. Thank you! We’re excited to use this funding to make space in the C&D industry for future generations of women to champion sustainable solutions for our national landfilling crisis.”
Re:Purpose Savannah is a woman-led and operated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that diverts materials from the landfill through deconstruction of historic buildings in Savannah, GA. Re:Purpose Savannah captures and shares the value of historic structures through shared research and documentation of buildings, through careful deconstruction and salvage of the architectural fabric of projects, and through making goods available for reuse at their marsh-front lumber yard.
Founded in 1881, AAUW is one of the world’s largest sources of funding for graduate women, due to the generosity and legacy of generations of AAUW members. These prestigious awards are highly competitive and selective, and Re:Purpose is honored to be a recipient
