Dildilian Foundation for the Building Trades

The investment starts with a group of homes that are vacant and in a state of disrepair. The Foundation would purchase these vacant homes for the sole purpose of becoming the classroom. The Foundation will then make the homes available to the Charter School for use in teaching skilled building trades to its students through the repair and renovation of the home. Each home would provide the core for instruction and learning. Each student would be a part of a team that progresses through each phase of the home renovation and each stage of the skilled trade that is required to complete the property for re-sale.

Upon entering the Charter School, each student would be given a basic set of tools. As the renovation progresses new tools would be provided. During each stage of the renovation, an exam would be given to evaluate learning, understanding and to ensure that the skills are being taught and understood. Along with testing, each level of achievement would satisfy the requirement of accreditation and licensure in an applicable trade.

Other formal classroom curriculum in the Charter School, outside of the home renovation, would teach writing, math, science, business etiquette, legal skills, and pre-licensure testing for State requirements.

While each level of training will occur with real, hands-on experience, the education will not stop when the home platform is completed. Students would then be required to be involved in the sale of the home. This will include learning about the mortgage process and how a potential buyer goes about buying a home.

After graduation, students would be strongly encouraged to give back a certain amount of their time in the capacity of instruction or mentoring.

Additionally, the objective is to rebuild the decaying neighborhoods that were once the hallmark of a thriving city. When a renovated property is sold to families who want to live in the city, other investment opportunities become available. Land development for shopping centers, restaurants, and store fronts become the norm, which increases the local property values and tax base of the city. And further still, these young adults will graduate from the Charter School with a leg up on securing skilled trades jobs, which are desperately needed in the City. They will get jobs in the City, pay taxes in the City, and further reinvest and rebuild the City.