FOLSOM, Calif. – (January 30, 2023) – SAFE Credit Union awarded the Construction Industry Education Foundation (CIEF) a $5,000 grant to sponsor a school’s participation in its Design Build Competition.
The grant was awarded through the credit union’s Community Sustainability Grant Program, which provides funds to Sacramento region nonprofits with programs that support education, healthcare, and veterans. To engage the community and our members in our corporate giving initiatives, SAFE invited the community in December to determine the two grant recipients offering education programs that address inequities.Voters chose CIEF and Sacramento Cottage Housing Inc. to each receive $5,000 grants.
“We’re extremely grateful for SAFE Credit Union to have the foresight to support programs like ours to ensure a stronger economy in the future,” says Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange CEO Tim Murphy. CIEF is affiliated with the Sacramento Builders Exchange and provides programs to high schools to encourage students to consider careers in the trades, engineering, architecture, and construction.
CIEF, based in Sacramento, offers a variety of in-person programs, scholarships and mentorships to high school students and young adults to provide hands-on experiences that introduce them to career opportunities in the trades. CIEF’s mission is two-fold: to introduce students to potential careers and provide new employees for the building industry.
“The industry is in desperate need of more workers,” says CIEF Grant Writer Jeff DiScala. “There is a critical labor shortage. It’s really important that the industry step up to fill that void and that is what we do with our programs.”
One of those programs is the Design Build Competition, in which teams of students learn to design and build 96-square-foot structures. It culminates in a live event where teams construct their buildings over the course of two days and are judged by industry professionals. SAFE’s grant will fund a school’s participation in the program.
“Many of them learn what it’s like to be on the job site for the very first time,” DiScala says.
To help expand the number of people considering careers in the trades, CIEF reaches out to many diverse groups, including young women, to introduce them to the trades.
“Twenty percent of our participants last year were female,” says Murphy. ‘We had a team that was entirely young women, so it’s showing there is an opportunity for young women to have rewarding careers in this field.”
The grant to CIEF was one of eight totaling $95,000 awarded to nonprofits from SAFE in 2022.
“Our Community Sustainability Grant Program provides funding to programs that seek to make our communities economically stronger by giving people the tools and resources they need to live fulfilling, healthy lives,” says SAFE Community Impact Manager Amanda Merz. “CIEF does amazing work in opening career doors for young people and filling a critical need in our region. I particularly like that they provide hands-on experiences at our schools, where some of those programs have been cut over the years. It makes all the difference for a young person to actually use a drill, draw building plans, and even build an entire structure to gain confidence and dream of a brighter future.”
Learn more about SAFE’s Community Sustainability Grant Program.
To connect with SAFE Credit Union Community Impact Manager Amanda Merz, please contact AVP, Communications and Public Relations Carole Ferguson at [email protected] or 916-836-6318.
About SAFE
SAFE Credit Union has made members an integral part of its vision since 1940. Over the years the credit union has kept the focus on what really matters, putting members first, a formula that has seen SAFE grow into a leading financial institution in Northern California with $4.5 billion in assets and about 247,000 members. SAFE crafts every cutting-edge product and sterling service with members’ needs foremost in mind. In addition to banking services conveniently available through online, chat, mobile, or phone options, SAFE offers in-person services for members and small businesses at service centers across the Greater Sacramento region. SAFE is a not-for-profit, state-chartered credit union with membership open to businesses and individuals living or working in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Sutter, Butte, Nevada, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Yuba, Amador, and Alameda counties. Insured by NCUA. www.safecu.org