Girls Learn Handy Skills at Summer Camp

By Lauren White, RCS Reporter.

Women Roofers volunteer to teach girls about carpentry, plumbing, roofing, and more. 

“They actually let us build, ourselves, like, mess with power tools!” Saige told News 13 while at the WeBuild! Camp.  The camp was hosted at Isothermal Community College in Spindale, North Carolina.  30 girls in grades four through seven attended, working with power drills and learning skills in carpentry, plumbing, and roofing.  

20 volunteers from the group Women Roofers helped make this camp possible.  Lori Herrick, one of the founders of the group, volunteered at the camp as well.  News 13 reported, “For the past 17 years, Women Roofers has made repairs to help low-income homeowners, part of the non-profit Rutherford Housing Partnership.”  And for the first time ever, they’re hosting a summer camp filled with power tools and inspiration.

The camp empowers young women and spreads the understanding that girls can do anything.  Their chant of, “Girls can, power strong, tools yes!” adequately sums up the message. Saige, whose dad works in construction, told News 13, “I like how they don’t treat us like a baby...Other camps, they wouldn’t let you do that.”  Lori is excited that the camp can, “Encourage young girls to maybe have some non-traditional skills that they may not learn anywhere else,” as mentioned in her interview with News 13.  

With the help of Lori’s guidance, a camper named Ella used a hand sander for the first time.  Lori explained everything from how to turn it on to sharing what to expect once it started. News 13 observed this interaction between Lori and Ella, “Push the ‘on.’  You got it! And you wanna go back and forth, back and forth...It’ll jump on you a little when you start it, so just be ready.”  

Women Roofers wants to continue encouraging young people.  They plan on hosting the WeBuild! Camp again next year and are considering a camp for young boys also.  Their hope is that they will inspire a new generation and get them interested in trade jobs. Nell Perry Bovender, executive director of Rutherford Housing Project expressed to News 13, “I’m just alarmed at how few people are going into construction trades...When I need a plumber, it’s impossible to find a plumber or electricians.  So we would like to encourage young women and young men.”

Not your typical summer camp, girls are reassured, they gain new skills and knowledge, and they’re exposed to the world of carpentry, plumbing, roofing, and more.  Seeing as roofing and construction trades are typically male-dominated, the WeBuild! Camp experience empowers young girls. Lori told News 13, “It’s like girl power, we’re trying to say that girls can do it, not only boys.”  This hands-on camp not only demonstrates from a young age that girls can use tools and enter into any trade, but it also gives them strong, professional women to aspire to be.    

Do you know of someone in the industry who is ‘doing good deeds’ in their community? Help us catch them at it. Send news and information to info@rooferscoffeeshop.com.

Main image: About 30 girls attended the first WeBuild! Camp staffed by 20 volunteers with the group Women Roofers. (Photo credit: WLOS staff)