The Regina Trades and Skills Centre  Residential Roofing class helped a local resident by reroofing her home.

Melissa Dobrowolski, the operations manager at Regina Trade and Skills Centre, said thanks to class and donations between Wheatland Roofing and other partners totaling $8,000, they were able to help out the community.

“Rachel is a single mom of two little girls, she works part-time, she is a homeowner, she is doing everything she possibly can, and her roof is in rough shape,” she said. “For anybody to come up with $8,000 to do a repair is really challenging, so when we presented her with this option, she was over the moon.”

“For the students to be able to give back in Regina, in the neighbourhood a lot of them grew up in, is huge for them,” she continued.

Dobrowolski said not only were the students able to give back to the community, but they also got on-the-job training.

“They start off in the shop, they learn on four-foot mock roofs, so when they get to go onto an actual job site and experience the weather, the wind, all of the repairs, the challenges that come with it, the elements, and then the customer service aspect, it makes them more employable and more attractive to be employed by our partner employers.”

While the centre aims to provide training that leads to entry-level jobs in industries where workers are in high demand, it’s always nice to give back to the community.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a single mom, a non-profit, a newcomer to Canada, someone from our Indigenous community, or just a regular Joe or Jill off the street that is looking for a new start. It doesn’t matter what the situation is; being able to give back to everybody is something that we pride ourselves in, and there is no dollar figure that can be put on that.”

She added that with partners like Wheatland Roofing, they could give back to the community the way they have.