Nonprofit provides holistic preparation for construction careers
Three times a year, the Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF) graduates a new cohort of men and women who have done more than learn core skills in electrical, plumbing and carpentry trades. They have developed essential job readiness skills and overcome barriers to employment in order to prepare themselves for careers in the construction industry.

In addition to teaching construction math, technology and job readiness skills, the BetterU construction pre-apprenticeship program provides hands-on training in three trades. Photo courtesy of the Job Opportunities Task Force.
After conducting job training since 2006, JOTF launched the BetterU construction pre-apprenticeship training program in 2022. The 16-week program provides trainees with intensive remedial math and construction math education, technology and safety education, and hands-on training in the core tasks of each trade. Each cohort must complete a small construction project (such as a storage cabinet for power tools outfitted with charging stations) and construct a tiny house.
Last year, the BC&E Foundation awarded JOTF a $4,000 grant to support the program.
“We took our 20 years of job-training experience and poured it into this new endeavor,” said Debra Carr, Chief Executive Officer of JOTF. “I think the thing that distinguishes us is how we develop sound relationships with our trainees and the employers who hire from us. We believe this is not just about making a job match, it is about making a lasting job match.”
To achieve that goal, JOTF provides trainees with more than construction skills education. It teaches essential employment skills, such as punctuality, leadership, personal responsibility and constructive conflict resolution. It partners with other organizations to provide case management services to help resolve or mitigate existing employment barriers, such as lack of housing, food insecurity, mental health concerns, healthcare needs and financial problems.
Through a partnership with Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Services, trainees also receive free legal help to address a range of issues, including expunging criminal records where appropriate. Nearly half of JOTF trainees whose average age is 33, have some criminal record.

BetterU provides student stipends and financial literacy education to trainees. It can also help graduates acquire tools, a driver’s license and a used car.
Achieving the goal of lasting and productive job matches means that JOTF also engages in careful job placement efforts and coordinates those efforts with employers.
Midway through the course, JOTF’s Job Placement Coordinator Carrie Williams begins meeting with trainees to assess each individual’s desires and capabilities. Williams who has worked in job development for more than 15 years, then works to match graduates to appropriate jobs with industry partners.
“We triage our folks. We are not going to send someone out [to a job] who is not going to be a good employee for a specific employer partner,” Carr said.
The training program, she added, is steadily evolving to meet the needs of local construction companies.
“It is important to me that employers understand that my vision for BetterU is not just churning out trainees. It is about, over the long haul, having employers work in partnership with us so that we train to what they need,” Carr said. “We want to talk about not just who you need now, but what you will need a year or six months from now so we can plan to help address those labor needs.”
JOTF celebrates the completion of each BetterU program with a graduation ceremony and dinner.
“Every graduation chokes me up because the folks that were here on day one are totally different when they get to the end of the 16-week experience,” Carr said.
Carr notes that she has “a rep to maintain. Every time a cohort starts, the trainees will say to a case manager, ‘Who is the mean lady?’ They are talking about me.”
Carr is known for making daily checks on classes and confronting any trainee who arrives late, misses a class or engages in other behavior that could see them removed from the program.