Vermont Job Training Collaborative Builds Careers Through Service

Serve Learn Earn aims to address the state’s workforce shortage through paid training opportunities tied to public service.

Marshall Hartman doesn’t have to search far to find empathy for the flood victims whose homes he’s helping to rebuild in Barre, Vermont. His own home was damaged by flooding in 2023, leaving him feeling overwhelmed.

“One thing turns into two and before you know it, you’re behind,” he said. “Everything is more complicated than it seems. You start with ripping out the drywall and insulation, but then there is so much more to do. There’s nothing fun or pretty about it. It just has to get done. It’s very stressful.”

An alumni of Serve Learn Earn, Hartman’s path to a career in construction began while he was a student at Williamstown High School. He enrolled in YouthBuild ReSOURCE, a 12-month program that allowed him to learn construction skills and earn his OSHA 10 Certificate, while working toward his high school diploma.

His classroom? Homes in Barre that had been damaged by the 2023 flooding.

“Traditional learning isn’t for everyone,” said Hartman. “YouthBuild was an opportunity for 

me to graduate, which at the time didn’t seem possible, while learning trade skills and helping my community. I feel very fortunate.”

Serve Learn Earn is a collaboration between four nonprofits–ReSOURCE, Vermont Works for Women, Vermont Youth Conservation Corp, and Audubon Vermont–that combines job training with public service.

The collaboration aims to address Vermont’s workforce shortage by encouraging young people and adults who have been sidelined from quality employment to learn highly sought after skills that, ideally, translate into full-time employment.

Hartman is one of more than 1,400 Vermonters who have participated in Serve Learn Earn over the past three years. Collectively, those individuals have earned 552 credentials, and many have moved into full-time jobs.

“There is such a lack of skilled construction tradesmen and laborers,” said Matt Russick, Hartman’s supervisor and ReSOURCE’s construction manager. “When the flooding happened, it was all hands on deck to muck out basements and pull out drywall, but then families just sat on waiting lists for a contractor. We have people who have been eating takeout for a year because they don’t have a kitchen. One woman has been showering under a garden hose attached to the wall.”

Russick teaches the Serve Learn Earn interns all aspects of the trade, especially tool safety, taking extra care to show them how to accomplish each task and making sure everyone is up to date with International Building Codes. “With a new employee, I allow them to show me how they would approach a job and then offer critique, if necessary,” he said, “whereas with the interns I spend a lot more time teaching and shadowing.”

“I’ve learned so much that I don’t think I would have anywhere else,” said Hartman. “Cabinets, cutting out a sink, installing hinges, drywall, mudding, fixing porches. A lot of people will show you something and then expect you to get it right. But Matt shows us, then does it with us, and then watches us do it. It sets us up for success.”

The ReSOURCE team has completed five houses in Barre, right down to painted walls and trim. Russick insists that the homes are not just repaired, but completely livable and more resilient to future flooding. “We use tiles that can be pulled up and reused if need be and raise appliances up off the floor,” he said. “We’re not just building back; we’re building back better.”

Hartman, meanwhile, is applying what he’s learning on the job to his own home. “Drywall is one thing, but appliances are expensive,” he said. “When I saw those risers, I went home and put my own washer and dryer up too.”

The skills Hartman is learning on the job should serve him well for years to come. According to the 2023-2024 Most Promising Jobs Report put out by the McClure Foundation and the Vermont Department of Labor, Vermont is projected to have 4,460 job openings in carpentry alone over the next ten years, with many more in the construction field more broadly. Hartman has every intention of staying in the field and continuing to build his skills.

“Inspired and empowered”

YouthBuild is one of many entry points to Serve Learn Earn.

 Further north in Newport, Vermont, Myah Ridder found the program through Vermont Works for Women Trailblazers, which prepares women and gender expansive individuals for careers in construction.

She recently completed her service internship with Spates Construction, rehabilitating affordable apartments for senior citizens in Newport. Like Hartman, she was hired into a full-time position at the end of her internship.

“Inspired and empowered are the right words,” she said. “This is actually knowledge that will help me build the future I want, so to speak.”

In addition to the technical skills she’s learned, from framing to flooring, Ridder says she has met people from around the state and discovered new avenues for learning. She’s also found community among the crew she joined. “I was the greenest of green,” she said, “but everyone was very patient with me. They showed me how to use the right tools for each job and took time to explain things to me. It’s been really nice.”

Ridder, who lives with her mother in Beebe Plain, has plans to build gardening fixtures for their home, do some painting, and pull up some old vinyl flooring. “I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have found Trailblazers,” she said. “That set everything into motion. I was stuck in a rut and wasn’t sure where to go, but the stars aligned, I guess. I feel very lucky.”

A win-win for Vermont

While Ridder and Hartman both found opportunities in construction, Serve Learn Earn offers opportunities across a variety of fields, many of which contribute to climate resilience and the growth of a green economy. While one participant is pursuing his interest in forestry, working with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corp to plant native trees and shrubs and remove invasive species, another is working with Audubon Vermont to band and monitor the Common Tern as part of a North American-wide program.

From July 2023 to June 2024, Serve Learn Earn participants completed 182 service and training projects in conservation, outdoor recreation, environmental education, food access, sustainable agriculture, low-income housing, and flood resilience and rebuilding, earning more than $1.59 million in wages and stipends. Many also earned entry-level credentials and college credit.

What’s more important, said Serve Learn Earn director Kate Gluckman, is that those individuals are leaving with valuable skills they can bring forward into a career.

“It’s really a win-win,” she said. “There is so much need for a stronger workforce and so many people looking for pathways to employment. Through this collaboration, we solve for both problems at once through community service that deepens connections and, ultimately, makes Vermont a stronger and more resilient place.”

Serve Learn Earn is publicly-funded through the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation with support from the J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation. For more information: servelearnearn.org.