From The San Diego Union Tribune:
A few weeks after a cottage was delivered to Wounded Warrior Homes in Vista, construction students from Montecito High School in Ramona went to the site to add some finishing touches.
The 400-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bath cottage was built by San Marcos High students to provide temporary lodging for veterans graduating from the Wounded Warrior Homes program. The nonprofit partners with Warrior Village Project, which aims to create affordable housing while also teaching the next generation of construction workers.
Mark Pilcher, who founded Warrior Village Project in 2018, was at the cottage March 4 and 5 while a dozen Montecito High students worked on the it. Montecito High construction teacher Nick Jordan and his students worked for two days to waterproof the cottage’s underlying building paper, nail on earthquake straps and add fiber cement lap siding to its exterior.
Jordan said the work provides his student volunteers on-the-job training that isn’t possible to teach in the classroom.
Francisco Santoyo, an 18-year-old senior at Montecito High, said he signed onto the project to get experience in working as a carpenter or concrete finisher.
“These people helped fight for our country so why can’t I give them a home?” said Santoyo, who credited his teacher for inspiring him to work on the project. “If it wasn’t for Mr. Jordan I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. He inspired me to want to do better. He showed me I can do something with my bare hands and be proud of it.”
Two apprentice instructors from the Associated General Contractors of America’s apprenticeship program helped instruct San Marcos High students on framing as about 25 students built the cottage over two semesters, Pilcher said.
Pilcher was advised by the AGC to talk to Jordan about getting more students involved in the project.
Although the hands-on student work was stalled during the pandemic, Pilcher helped finish the cottage with San Marcos High cabinet and furniture instructor Chris Geldert. Also lending a hand were Michael McSweeney from the Building Industry Association of San Diego County and contractors from JAAM Electric and R.M. Plumbing.
Volunteers from the Navy Seabees helped create the foundation for the house.
“We started building two cottages on the San Marcos High campus in October 2019,” Pilcher said. “Then they shut the schools in March 2020 so we couldn’t finish them. (The team) finished it enough to get it here. We’re still looking for a location for the second cottage underway at San Marcos High.”
Jordan said his students were planning to work on the project at San Marcos High until COVID-19 struck. Pilcher wanted to get the Montecito High students involved, but the Ramona school didn’t have sufficient space and security to accommodate bringing the cottage there, he said.
So Jordan offered to take his students to Vista to get the job done. He said he has a personal interest in the project. His father, Michael Jordan, served in the Vietnam War and his grandfather, Leone Jordan, served in the U.S. Navy. And just recently his son, Leone Jordan Jr., announced he wants to enlist in the U.S. Army.
“If we can get the second house on a site we’ll provide the students,” Jordan said. “If the opportunity presents itself, we would help again, absolutely, it’s for a good cause.”
The cottage was moved to its current location behind a Wounded Warrior Homes house in Vista on Feb. 10 and 11.
Wounded Warrior Homes co-founder Steve Roseberry said it will be used to help veterans transition out of the nonprofit’s two-year program. His wife, Mia Roseberry, who co-founded the organization, said once the home is complete, any veteran from any Wounded Warrior House in San Marcos, Escondido or Oceanside can apply to live in the cottage within 90 days of transitioning out of the program and into living on their own.
Support services are offered to post-9/11 veterans with a traumatic brain injury and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who have been sober for at least 120 days, she said, adding that the program is currently for men but women are planned to be included in the future.
“This gives them a feeling of what it’s like to live alone,” Roseberry said. “Many of our veterans have never lived alone, so this is a stepping stone for them. They can live in it for 30 to 90 days, then transition into their own home or apartment.”
Since San Diego County won’t allow another cottage to be added to the Vista location, Roseberry said the long-range plan is to build a campus of tiny homes elsewhere.
Montecito High junior Kaleb Koeberlein, 17, one of the the students working on the cottage project, said he first experienced the rewards of community service while volunteering at a summer camp at Ramona Oaks Park in San Diego Country Estates between seventh grade and his sophomore years.
Koeberlein said he’s undecided about whether to pursue a career in the construction field or the automotive industry, so he’s studying both subjects.
“I’m a very hands-on person and I like being outside,” he said.
Ezequiel Santoyo, 16, a Montecito High junior, said he volunteered at a homeless shelter in Bakersfield with his mom before moving to Ramona last July.
“I felt like this is a good thing to do to help out and get some experience,” said Santoyo, who plans to join the Navy when he turns 18 and get trained in either construction or mechanics. “I’m a visual learner. I have to do it to actually learn it.”
Montecito High senior Ryann Smith said she wants to become a probation officer after graduating but is learning construction because she likes building and making new things. She said she’s already helped build benches at school and hopes to learn new skills by helping out with finishing the cottage.
“I’m going to go inside and see what the boys need help with, then go from there,” she said on the job site. “Hopefully, we’ll get a lot done.”
Michael McSweeney, senior public policy adviser for the Building Industry Association of San Diego County, said it’s important to train the next generation of construction workers because the industry is losing well-trained professionals.
“It’s important for my industry because nationally, 6,000 experienced trades people like myself retire a day and there’s not 6,000 people a day entering the construction trades profession,” he said.
“The hope is that the kids who are being exposed to the trades will see this as a good career path where they’ll earn a substantial salary and they won’t have to go to college and take on a lot of student debt,” he said. “Once you’re a skilled tradesperson, like a nurse, you can find work anywhere in the United States.”