Feel Good Friday - unCommon Construction

I learned about today's Feel Good Friday organization from a tour guide I had in New Orleans. For every 5-star review he receives, his boss makes a donation to the charity of his choice, unCommon Construction.

Founded in 2015 by Aaron Frumin, the motto of unCommon Construction is "Building houses. Framing character."

This non-profit provides high school students with apprenticeships in the construction industry. Every Saturday students from four schools in New Orleans meet with experienced volunteers on a construction site to build a house from start to finish. The project is over at the end of the semester when the house is complete. While working, students get both hourly pay and school internship credit. Students also earn a matching "equity award scholarship" from revenue generated from the sale of the house. This can be used for further education, industry certification or tools.

This 4-minute video gives a great overview of the program and shows interviews with students on the worksite.

Not only are students who participate in the program earning money, credit and learning a trade, they also develop leadership and other soft skills through the process of working with the volunteers and other students.

If you'd like to support the work of unCommon Construction, you've got options. Those of you who live in New Orleans can hire them for a project or volunteer on a build. No matter where you are, you can shop for swag, make a donation and show the social media love by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @uCCNOLA.