The Housing Authority of the City of Fort Lauderdale has operated a state certified Step-Up Apprenticeship Program (Step-Up) since 1994. The objective of the program is to provide apprentices with the opportunity to create a portfolio of education, training, and employment skills to increase their potential for permanent employment and economic self-sufficiency. During the two-year state certified program, apprentices are trained in construction skills with a specialty in housing rehabilitation and building maintenance for occupations in the public and private sectors. All apprentices are required to obtain their GED while in the program and certified instructors teach morning and evening classes at the Housing Authority to help prepare the apprentices for the exam.
There are approximately twenty apprentices currently enrolled in the Step-Up initiative. Since 1994, the Step-Up program has successfully rehabilitated over 925 foreclosed, abandoned, and distressed properties. Step-Up is the sole manufacturer and installer of kitchen and bath cabinetry for 660 units of the NW Gardens development, as well as for Kennedy Homes, Sailboat Bend, Dixie Court, and Sunny Reach Acres.
Step-Up and the Housing Authority of the City of Fort Lauderdale are training site for the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). Five of the Housing Authority’s supervisors have been trained as accredited NCCER craft instructors. The NCCER curriculum offered to the apprentices includes: core construction, green building, weatherization, carpentry, plumbing, painting, and drywall.
The Housing Authority of the City of Fort Lauderdale’s Step-Up program is a training site for the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).