BALTIMORE —

Women in need can get support to help them break into and succeed in skilled labor trades.

Jabria Ford is all smiles as she dresses tables, pipes drapes and sets up signage for Baltimore Comic-Con at the Baltimore Convention Center. It’s her first day on a trade show carpentry job, an opportunity she doesn’t take for granted because her life looked a lot different just three months ago.

“I didn’t have a job, a source of income,” Ford told 11 News.

Ford got connected with the HER Resiliency Center, an organization that helps women ages 18-25 rebuild their lives after struggling with addiction, abuse, trafficking, poverty or other forms of trauma.

“When I first got there, in those first two weeks, they got the resources for me to make sure I didn’t get evicted from my home,” Ford told 11 News. “Days when I didn’t have any food, they brought food for me.”

Now, they’re helping her get a job. Ford is one of eight women in HER Resiliency Center’s brand-new Triple Crown Academy, an 18-month workforce development program that helps women break into the construction industry.

“We recognize that real power is based in economic power and economic freedom and, throughout the years, we’ve recognized that the women we serve were only getting minimum wage jobs, jobs that didn’t have very many hours,” said Natasha Guynes, founder and president of HER Resiliency Center. “The country is in need of more skilled labor, and the unions are trying to diversify, and they are trying to diversify by including more women and Black and brown women. And, at HER Resiliency Center, 95% of the women we serve are Black and brown identifying and want the opportunity.”

The program starts with an eight-week pre-apprenticeship program, which includes weekly classes and employment opportunities in partnership with local unions like the Trade Show Carpenters Local 491 of the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council.

“We just feel as though we are creating work opportunities for the community of Baltimore, and I’m just really excited to be a part of it,” said Anthony Squilla, the Trade Show Council Representative for the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters.

After the pre-apprenticeship program, participants will be eligible for higher paying job opportunities within union apprenticeship programs. HER Resiliency Center will provide them with other resources, like mentorship, advocacy and childcare during their workday. In about a year, HER Resiliency Center hopes to be able to provide women with safe and stable housing.

“We come from low-income homes, houses, so this will definitely change, especially the wages,” Ford told 11 News. “It will help us learn experience and it will definitely change our lives.”

That’s exactly what Guynes wants, because it was people in her community that helped change her life, too.

“At 20 years old, I sold my body and I never thought anything would come from that,” Guynes told 11 News. “I am nearly 23 years clean, but I didn’t expect to ever be a recovering drug addict, alcoholic, and I’ve been afforded that because of support from other people in my life. What I want for the women is what I have gotten over the years — knowing that I have value, that I am smart, that I can contribute.”

The HER Resiliency Center is looking for more funding to expand the Triple Crown Academy and other efforts to help the women they serve. For more information on how you can help, visit their website.