The Building Trades Academy of Tidewater Builders Association has been awarded a $10,000 grant from Wells Fargo to assist in the construction of an affordable home in the City of Portsmouth. The grant was awarded through the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation under its construction/rehab area of interest, which provides monies for the development and pre-development of construction or rehab of owner-occupied homes.

The Building Trades Academy grant will be used to purchase building materials for a single-family home being constructed in the Brighton neighborhood of Portsmouth. Once completed, the home will be sold to a low-to-moderate wage earning family.

The grant is part of more than $82 million dollars in grants that Wells Fargo awarded to nonprofit organizations across the country in 2007, including $19 million to programs geared towards community development such as the Building Trades Academy program.

The Building Trades Academy provides occupational skills training and job placement to economically disadvantaged residents who want to pursue a career in the building trades. As part of the hands-on training provided in the program, Academy students construct homes in under-served communities. Since 1978, over 4,000 students have graduated from the program. 

For more information about the Building Trades Academy, contact Keith Curtis at 420-2434 or [email protected].