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About Hope Renovations

About Hope Renovations

We believe in access and opportunity,

and an equal right to both for everyone.

Our Vision

We envision a world of gender equity in the construction industry, where all people can access the opportunity to renovate their lives.

Our Mission

Hope Renovations builds futures and transforms lives with a dual mission:

preparing underemployed women and gender expansive individuals for construction careers and helping older adults age in place.

Our Values

Passion: Work with purpose. Dedicate yourself to making a difference in your own life and the lives of others. Be proud of your contribution to building a better world.

Justice: Recognize and appreciate that all people have value, are worthy, have inherent dignity, and deserve equitable treatment.

 

Tenacity: Act with courage. Fully commit to your work and your team. Work hard to find the best solution. Show grit in times of struggle.

Curiosity: Take every chance to try something new. Find the learning opportunity in every mistake. Seek to figure things out and ask questions when you can’t. Listen to understand.

Integrity: Be honest. Make ethical decisions and be accountable for your choices. Stand behind your work. Establish trust and protect it like treasure.  

Innovation: Change is inevitable and adaptability is key. Give new ideas a chance. Think creatively. We can always improve and strive to be a better version of ourselves.

How We Began

Hope's roots go back to when I started doing my own home repairs - it started as a hobby and, like lots of hobbies, took on a life of its own. I loved getting my hands dirty and, as a woman who was never expected to have a knack for construction, something about doing it myself was particularly rewarding.  However, as I expanded my hobby and began working on small renovations alongside contractors and tradespeople I began to wonder... where were all the other women?

 

Fast forward ten years, when I decided to leave the corporate world to pursue a Master of Social Work from UNC.  While interning at a local homeless shelter, I met many women who were capable of working in the trades.  But when I would mention construction as a potential career path, the answer I often got was, "I'd love to, but nobody ever taught me how to do that stuff." The wheels started turning.

 

Finally, in my last semester of grad school I learned about the concept of Aging-in-Place, including many surprising statistics; like the fact that it's one of the fastest growing segments of the construction industry, but also one with the least capacity. In today's world, where big construction is booming (and small jobs take time and resources away from big ones), there simply aren't enough contractors to do the work.

 

So I figured it made a lot of sense to solve both problems at once.  Help women get the skills to enter into construction careers and get out of low-wage jobs, narrowing the gender equity gap in the process.  Give seniors a dedicated workforce to complete the repairs and renovations they need to stay in their homes. And, by doing so, develop a workforce that will help construction employers keep building, ultimately boosting our economy.  It was a win-win-win.

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Nora El-Khouri Spencer, MSW

Founder and CEO

Help people change their lives
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