When Mosaic on Main performed a major makeover on the iconic diner at 325 W. Main Street in downtown Benton Harbor, one of the key players in the renovation work was a Benton Harbor graduate of the CCDA skilled trades training program who parlayed his newly-acquired construction skills into a job with the contractor responsible for the makeover. Today, that man is still an integral part of the contractor’s team traveling to job sites across the state in his full-time role as a building trades specialist. That’s exactly why Mosaic’s Executive Director Ric Pawloski was filled with joy today in accepting a major new grant from the American Electric Power Foundation which will further that continuum.
Pawloski accepted a super-sized check for $50,000 this morning from Indiana Michigan Power Company Economic & Business Development Manager Shelley Klug at Mosaic’s new headquarters in Benton Harbor’s central business district. That money will be used as seed money to launch a new Mosaic unit, Mosaic Develop, a workforce development program based in the city.
With the sizable new grant, Pawloski says his new Mosaic Develop unit will utilize current employees in workforce development programs to renovate six to ten homes each year to get them into the hands of lower income folks who otherwise would be seriously challenged in their bid to join the world of home ownership.
Pawloski says, “This generous support from the AEP Foundation will allow Mosaic to add affordable housing options to the Mosaic Pathway to sustainability for the community we serve.” He adds, “We are excited for the future of Mosaic Develop in the coming years.”
Mosaic’s new social enterprise aims to fill a huge gap in the community by taking some homes in Benton Harbor, performing renovations and then providing them to people in search of low income housing opportunities while hopefully partnering with local banks to provide them with the ability to obtain viable, affordable, mortgage plans.
Pawloski says, “It’s another social enterprise, so in addition to doing the renovation, we want to put people to work with the contractors that are doing it so they can learn the trades as they go. We had that happen when we renovated Mosaic on Main, as one of our graduates worked with the contractor there and he still works for that contractor full time, traveling the state doing work for them.” Pawloski says, “We’ve got a pilot program that we ran and it was successful and so we’re going to expand that through this grant, too.”
For her part, Klug sees the grant as a logical thing to provide because it truly is linked to economic development in the communityh. She says, “We feel that the work that Ric is doing is great for economic and business development, and supports the mission that Indiana Michigan Power and the AEP Foundation have, and that is to start new businesses, support them and increase the talent base that we have here so getting folks into the work force with particular skills that are needed in the construction trades, is definitely in that sector where we need more workers, and at the same time renovating houses, bringing up property values, it’s just a win for everyone.”
The AEP Foundation grant will be coupled with money from the Upton Foundation’s Big Idea Grant award received earlier according to Mosaic’s Pawloski who says, “We started looking at this last year, and we have been working on one house over on Apple Avenue in a partnership with another non-profit up in Holland. We had a strategy put together last year because we were also awarded the Big Idea grant last year from the Upton Foundation for the same Mosaic Develop unit, so we’ll put these two funds together.” He notes, “We met with the county this past week, and we’re putting together a strategy on our approach to acquiring homes, where we want them, how we want to acquire them, and then go from there, so we’re hoping by spring to mid-summer that we’ll have that in place.”
Mosaic Develop will join other successful programs already in action. Those programs begin with soft-skills training, advance through supervised work experience and the ultimate goal of long-term competitive employment. Mosaic works to overcome hurdles such as transportation, reading & math skills, childcare & personal barriers on a one-at-a-time basis. One of the key factors for success is the dedicated mentor provided to each participant in the programming. Mentoring is made possible thanks to the surrounding community and businesses supporting Mosaic programs financially.
