SANTA ANA, CA (March 17, 2003)

A team from Taller San Jose Tech joins HomeAid Builder Captain, Lennar Homes to help raise the walls at San Miguel Residence, a HomeAid shelter development located in Santa Ana.

Taller San Jose Tech, a recent Building Industry Association Ruby Slipper Award-recipient, provides education and opportunity for at-risk young adults to learn skills and earn income while they prepare to enter the county's workforce. This unique program is part training program, part job-placement center and part home to 300 students per semester. Courses range from general education to computer skills to job preparation and include basic construction skills such as carpentry, electrical, plumbing and drywall installation.

Working in conjunction with the San Miguel Builder Captain, Lennar Homes, Taller San Jose Tech took its training program to task by providing labor for site work and framing for both the first and second floors of this craftsman style home that will ultimately serve homeless men, women and children. Taller San Jose Tech is the newest partnership joining forces with care provider, Mercy House; HomeAid Orange County; the building industry and its trade partners; the architectural community; the City of Santa Ana; the French Park Neighborhood Association and others who are working together in a collaborative effort to bring a long-held dream to reality.

Contrary to what is universally perceived, joblessness is not always at the core of homelessness, in fact many of the homeless work full-time and still don't earn enough to meet the basic needs of their families. The truth is that the trickle down effect of salary/housing cost ratios is wreaking havoc with the growing rate of the homeless in Orange County and elsewhere. Most, you may be surprised to learn, are families and children – the population that will eventually be served at the San Miguel Residence.

It may also be surprising to learn that an individual receiving minimum wage has to work 106 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Ana! These rising costs and the shortage of affordable housing play a key role in the growing numbers of homeless served by HomeAid, the charitable arm of the Building Industry Association.

When completed, San Miguel will provide a minimum of 20 beds that will house a mix of homeless individuals and families, the majority of which will come from one of Mercy House's transitional programs including Joseph House for homeless men. Two other Mercy House shelters, Emmanuel House serving adults living with HIV/AIDS; and Regina House for homeless women and children – both developed by HomeAid and its partners – will also transition residents into the new project.

Workforce training such as that provide by Taller San Jose Tech is a critical issue in the homebuilding industry. By teaching young adults skills in residential construction, like those used in Taller's contribution to San Miguel, Taller San Jose Tech is helping meet the growing needs of predicted labor shortfall.

HomeAid Orange County was established by the leadership of the Orange County Chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California in 1989 for the purpose of building and renovating shelters for the temporarily homeless. Since its inception, HomeAid – with 34 completed shelter developments to its credit throughout Orange County – has expanded from its grass roots to become the largest provider of shelters for the temporarily homeless nationwide. For more information call (949) 553-9510 or visit www.homeaidoc.org.