Students at Scioto County CSC recently collaborated with a local community group to remodel two trailers equipped with shower and laundry facilities to assist community members struggling with homelessness and lack of access to hygiene care.
Scioto County Career and Technical Center (SCCTC) recently finished a project developed with local organization Community Action to address a need in the community for mobile access to laundry and shower facilities. Students and instructors from the Industrial Maintenance and Building Property Maintenance programs modified plain trailers, equipping them with washers, dryers, and shower stalls. The collaboration came through a meeting between Superintendent of the Scioto County Career and Technical Center, Kyle Copely, and Executive Director of Community Action, Steve Sturgill.
Details of the project were revealed in an article published by The Daily Times, in which Copley described the building process. "We started researching and we found a couple of trailers that we purchased that the outside was just a shell," Copley said, adding, "We had to have specialized customized equipment to go in them. The Community Action purchased two trucks with their money that will be taking these units across the county."
In the same article, Sturgill explained the importance and impact of the project on the community. "We had felt there was a need in the community for something like this for emergencies, for young people in the community that are struggling with having their clothes washed and having to take a shower. There are folks in our community where that is a problem. We had seen one of these trailers in an exhibit at a Community Action in Virginia Beach. I sent and got some materials. We just started a conversation about the possibility of doing something like this here."
Sturgill went on to applaud the results of the work done by the team from SCCTC, "I just can't get over how nice it is. It meets my expectations. The community is going to be extremely blessed by having this available throughout the county at different times and different locations. I can't say enough about the folks that built this. These were empty 30 ft. trailers and the young people have done all the work and it was a good project for them. They will be seen visibly throughout the community in the next few months."
SCCTC instructors Michael Wells and Chet Taylor led the students on the project. Some of the students who worked on the project also spoke to The Daily Times and said that they learned a lot through the process, which had them installing plumbing and wiring in the trailers. Gavin Strickland explained, "We definitely learned a lot. Mr. Wells taught us a lot. I think it went pretty well."
Wells also provided comment, saying, "I teach my students from the very beginning that it is up to them, the sky's the limit, they can learn as much in life as they want, and they can go as far as they want. Some or most of them have really excelled and they are good kids."
Copley also applauded the contributions of the students and teachers, "They spend numerous hours and restless nights on this project. They are the ones who stepped up and took this project on. I am really proud of their work, especially through a pandemic when resources were limited. The mobile units arrived and were nothing but a shell or blank slate and our programs were able to custom fit the mobile units with the most up-to-date equipment."