{"id":10363,"date":"2025-08-27T14:21:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T18:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/?p=10363"},"modified":"2025-09-03T14:27:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:27:17","slug":"aurora-legion-donates-to-trades-training-program-for-vulnerable-job-seekers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/aurora-legion-donates-to-trades-training-program-for-vulnerable-job-seekers\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora Legion donates to trades training program for vulnerable job-seekers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Posted On: August 27, 2025, Posted By: Christina Chkarboul, NewmarketToday, Original Article.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emergency housing provider and developer Blue Door received a $3,550 contribution from the Aurora branch of the Royal Canadian Legion for its Construct skills development program<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Aurora branch of the Royal Legion of Canada presented a $3,550 donation to a local program giving hands-on trades training and wraparound support to people facing employment barriers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legion members raised the money doing shifts at Bingo World and Gaming Richmond Hill, and chose emergency housing provider and developer Blue Door\u2019s Construct program to receive the funds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eight-week program, which helps vulnerable community members launch construction careers and find long-term financial and housing stability, was a natural tie-in to the legion\u2019s previous work on homelessness and mental health, said president Bonnie Robertson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s not just a stop-gap measure on housing, but it’s the transition to jobs and life skills, and people being able to be self-sufficient in life,\u201d Robertson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past five years, Construct has graduated more than 750 participants from York, Peel and Durham regions, 80 per cent of whom secured jobs within six months, said Emma Wood, director of employment and expansion at Blue Door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly 60 per cent of participants are youth aged 18 to 29, and a growing number are women. All have, in some way, found it hard to secure stable employment, with some having a history of homelessness and about one-fifth having been involved in the criminal justice system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the eight weeks, the program functions like a job site, with participants working eight-hour shifts developing trades skills, building everything from shelves to Muskoka chairs to sheds. They\u2019re paid minimum wage and are given personal protective equipment, a beginner toolkit and individualized support \u2014 like help paying rent, food and transportation costs and getting a drivers licence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construct costs roughly $20,000 per participant, Wood said, and is funded through government grants and private donations. The program\u2019s home-base is in Aurora, but pilot initiatives in west Niagara and Halifax recently graduated their first classes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re hoping to continue to do that in new communities across the country to help not only our unemployment and housing crisis,\u201d Wood said, \u201cbut train the next generation of skilled labourers to then help build more affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted On: August 27, 2025, Posted By: Christina Chkarboul, NewmarketToday, Original Article. Emergency housing provider and developer Blue Door received a $3,550 contribution from the Aurora branch of the Royal Canadian Legion for its Construct skills development program The Aurora branch of the Royal Legion of Canada presented a $3,550 donation to a local program […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":10364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t