While working as a fashion designer, Christina found herself being the only girl volunteering with an army of tradesmen to renovate buildings for nonprofits—and she loved it! The amazing work of Servant’s Heart Ministry has turned out to be her true calling that she never could have expected.
Hey, everybody, it's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks. And we continue now with part two of our conversation with Christina Mendez. Right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. Okay, let's return to Christina on what her first job was at Servant's Heart.
It's an insistent to John the director. You know, certainly wasn't a promotion from what I was working in the city.
I would imagine it financially step.
Back, Oh, absolutely, But I think I think I had in the years since I had come back from overseas, it had been this journey of like, I want to do something that has more purpose that serves the community.
I want to.
Do that more often than just my job, than just on the weekends. And so by that point, again, it's funny because I look back and I'm like, it seems like such a spontaneous thing to do, But it was just something that I feel like God had prepared me to want, and so took a took a pay cut, and signed up to serve in this ministry that didn't have a lot of formality and kind of come alongside and help manage the office. So what are you now so now I'm a director of kind of operations in marketing.
We're so a little small some wearing two different hats.
But now I basically help help the director kind of lead and operate the ministry. So kind of taking vision and how do we how do we create marketing isn't as fancy as some of these big, big car corporations, but it's a lot of I mean I do. I've designed all the website and all the marketing materials, and I was doing all the social media up until maybe two years ago, and kind of formulating.
I added.
When I first came into the ministry, there was a rough mission statement, some rough kind of like a brochure that was made, and so kind of it was fun because I came into just kind of work in the office, but I got to use all of my creative gifts to kind of figure out, Okay, well, how do we use how do we brand this in a way that really communicates the heart of what's already happening.
How do we make this look as legit than as it is?
So all right, so, so how does it work a nonprofit as a house for Like in North Memphis, there's a thing called a Hope House, Okay, and Hope Press Materian Church, which is out in the county forty miles from here. Twenty miles from here put in a thing called the Hope House. And the Hope House was a house that they fixed up and made nice for kids, latchkey kids to have somewhere to go after school ended and before their parents came home that was safe and there would be snacks and quiet places to do homework. And the person that ran the house was there to help with homework and just called it. It was a transition place between the end of school and when Paris got home. They call them Hope House. But it wasn't an old, crappy house in a dilapidated area, and they fixed it up. So if someone wanted to put that in New Jersey and had the volunteers for it, but didn't have the school to fix it up, would.
They call you, Yeah, we've got an application on our website. They would fill out an application, we'd send our project managers for a site visit.
And then no staff.
Now we've got so at the time, the director was doing all of it, So the director would go, we didn't there was no application actually, but they would call, the director, would visit, kind of reassess, and then basically project manage and send out our volunteers with their volunteers if the nonprofit had and then basically GC the project.
Oh and so, and then all of the labor, all the contractors are volunteers.
All everyone's volunteers.
What about the materials cost?
They would pay for materials.
Okay, So let's say a project to rehab this place was fifty thousand dollars. Typically the materials might be twelve to fifteen of the labor thirty five s. You're telling me they take that fifty thousand dollars project and with your help, reduce it to a twelve to fifteen thousand dollars project. Well, I mean that's huge, and you're not actually doing the ongoing work, but you're providing them the space to do their work.
Absolutely, which is why.
I say you're a nonprofit for nonprofits.
Absolutely, it's very cool.
That is very It's very cool. Okay, So how long have you been there?
So I'm about a little over five and a half years, and so.
You've gone from this handful of middle aged guys that taught her twenty seven year old girl how to do something other than tote pails of water.
I'm never gonna little bit DoPT.
That's pretty cool, but I'm just thinking like mules. Anyway, what what is it now?
So now meaning like in size people.
So we've got a staff. I think I just scheduled a staff meeting for next week with fifteen of us.
You're kidding, Yeah, yeah, how many volunteers?
So we probably so we've got kind of a blend of volunteers. We've got, you know, some people that come like every so often, and then we've got regulars. So we probably have over three hundred throughout the year. But then between our job sites and our trades program, which we haven't talked about yet, we'll probably have about one hundred consistent ones that keep us going.
And then what is consistent ones weekly?
So yeah, we've got a lot of We have a lot of volunteers that come like almost every Saturday or all of our trades program, which we'll talk about, is run completely by volunteers.
Now, that is unbelievable how much has grown.
It is unbelievable.
In the midst of all this, you started this trades program, say that right, yeap?
So what is that So our trades program is a training and mentorship program. So in twenty nineteen, John had, our director, had this vision to have more intentional training of the next generation because.
Our job sites. As much as everybody cares about training people up, there's still a job to do.
So it's kind of a hard environment to get the project done and train people. So we have this vision for this trades program. He connected with another a contractor who's really passionate about it. Obviously, you know, the world knows what's happening in the industry and the need for workers.
Well, let's talk about that because that affects my business absolutely. I'm in the lumber business, right and my stuff doesn't build houses. It furnishes it softwood spelled house hards furnish it of it that way, right, So my stuff goes to make furniture and flooring and cabinets and case goods and molding and millwork things like that. Well, I'm still able to find enough labor to soldier through. It's not easy, but I can't tell you how many people I sell product to in the United States. A cabinet shop for us, instead of having the hardest time in the world finding one someone to run woodworking machinery to mighty orgether parts to make furniture or cabinets, are flooring, and then two when that's made, and there's a construction worker out Yeah, there's a construction contractor out there who actually is building the house or the business or whatever and needs to install this stuff and build the fram and off they are struggling mightily to find brick layers and floor layers and framers and oh my gosh, mill wrights and guys to hang moldings, trim carpenters, holy moly, and roofers and all of this, and every year seems to get worse. There's few and fewer in Like the builders that I talk to tell me, what's really scary is, not only are there fewer and fewer, the ones they're depending on aren't forty anymore, they're like fifty five. And they know in five, six, seven, eight years these guys are going to retire. Yeah, and there is nobody in the bike, no one coming to continue these skills.
Yeah.
So that's what's really going on, isn't it?
Absolutely?
Absolutely and everywhere, And you know, obviously I'm to this world, but I've being in this world I've learned that everywhere, all of New Jersey, all of these contractors that are coming out to serve, they're all hurting for workers. And so I think some of our momentum of our growth is because we found a need that needed to be met and everyone gets it. It's like, so he connects with this with one of our volunteers who runs his own contracting company, and basically we start working on this vision for this trades program which would not just teach skills. But then the other side of that need is we're in this this inner city of Patterson where I imagine it's not unlike Memphis, right where you've got a whole generation that's kind of struggling to get out of poverty, right, and there's you've got this world, this industry that needs workers.
But then no one's t this generation.
So you've got this industry that's dying for lakers and people think, you know, to be clear, a guy that's really handy framing people are happy to pay them twenty bucks an hour more. Absolutely, so you got this need for what is called skilled labor that is actually because there's such a deficit of that labor, the pay for it's really high. Meanwhile, you got this labor pool who is highly uneducated and untrained, not stupid, uneducated, on trained, begging for jobs, living in poverty and success is where the two would meet, and you're providing away for him to meet. We'll be right back.
This was kind of a meeting of the two worlds and the two needs. And so we call it a mentorship program because it's not quite a trade school because you know, trade schools, the cost is skyrocketing, right, and so our population can't afford that.
That's everybody says, well, the trades are the way to go, and trade school is the way to go. I agree, but how do how does a person living in poverty pay for trade school? And especially because most of the pell brand and that kind of money is only for for your anniversary and for your anniversaries for your universities. So there's a problem getting into the trade schools, right.
And even if you commit to a trade school, you better know which trade you want because the second you sign up, you're gonna pay all this money. And then when you get out into the field and you decide, oh wait, maybe electrical wasn't for me. H.
Facy sucks, But I really like framings. Now I got to start.
All over, right, and you know, I think you know our director and a lot of these trades guys, you know, they grew up with parents that showed them all of these things, right, they grew up learning how to swing a hammer, and they had this exposure that they can make an educated decision on which to.
Navigate the right.
But like, how can a Patterson kid that can barely afford you know, one year of these trade school let alone all.
Of that choose choose a field when they've had.
No also never had anybody in the orbit doing any of this work. They don't even you say, h VAC, I don't even know what that means.
Right, They don't know what the career, what that career holds looks like. And each one is very different in terms of personality and preferred skills. So even though there's a lot of skills that unite all the trades, there's still you know, each you know, each person is fit for a different kind.
Kind So you have a mentoring program. Yeah, and now how do you get kids and I'm saying kids, young adults, teenagers, high school grads whatever from Patterson to come to your mentorship program to learn a trade. They how did they know it's available? And how do you convince them it's a good thing? And then what does it look like when those kids, who largely come from a place where that work ethic isn't always well demonstrated, interact with people who have unbelievable work. Yes, sure, I've got to believe there's a cultural clash that happens at first, you know what, It.
Not as much as you'd think. And I think it's because well, I'll answer a few one question first. Okay, the course that we started with, now we've got four courses running, but the course we started with is called the CPM course stands.
For Critical Path Method, which is.
Basically, for those that don't know, the process of construction established by the Army Corps of Engineers. That means that says you can't run electrical before there's a roof on, basically like it's the common sense logic of the process in which you build.
And so we call it right foundation first. So we call it that because it's.
A twenty night course that walks through all of the key trades. So you get three classes on plumbing, three on electrical, and the whole goal of the course is to give a student the basic foundational skills like that are as simple as reading a tape, measure, holding an impact driver, you know, hammering nails, but also mentor them into figuring out which trade is for them.
So they get to they're getting a twenty day crash course right from greenfield to finished product. Sure what it takes to build auct a house or a structure.
And they're getting hands on experience.
They're going to learn how to sweat a pipe and get you know, get all stuff to your hand.
Then they get to say, well, you know of that, I really enjoyed this and this right okay, and so then.
What So basically they go through the course.
We've got different systems in place to kind of check in and feel out where they want to go. And then our goal is at the end of that course we help them navigate which is the direction and okay, you know, this kid wants an apprenticeship. So we've got this wide, you know, network of different trades guys that say, hey, so and so is looking for a carpentry apprenticeship. You know, do you have some space and kind of connect them plus all of the all of the contractors and subcontractors and all these trades guys are there, you know.
Sharing anyway, they're teaching, meeting you know, they're learning these candidates by actually tasso. Yeah, that's phenomenal.
It's it's kind of like you and they're donating their time.
But in donating their time, they're also finding the very valuable needs of personnel and are able to evaluate them as these guys are learnings, are learning, and that's awesome.
They're volunteering is really what keeps us.
You asked that question about like you know that don't necessarily come from this hard working environment. A lot of what I hear from our students is I wanted to bail, but then I saw how many hours these guys were coming in to teach me after they've spent all day on a roof, you know, to come in and volunteer three hours twice a week for me that I stayed because they're watching these people models.
So the actual philanthropic side of it is what keeps people in the program because they recognize the effort.
Yeah, I mean a lot of these a lot of these students come from a world, not all of them, but a lot of them come from a world where they've never really had anyone believing in them, and a lot of them no male role models believing in them.
Again, not all.
It's not necessarily a paramount.
Word, right right.
And so you've got I mean, all of our volunteers just have this real heart to like really empower these kids. And so they're coming into this free program they didn't have to pay for. They're given all these tools and stuff to use in class. They have these teachers that are coming in after a long, hard work day to help give them skills. It's like, for the first time they have somebody that's that's saying, hey, we believe that you've got you've got some skills, and you've got some talent, and you have a capacity to learn and build a career. And I don't I don't think a lot of them heard of that before. Not to mention, you know, I think a lot of the students that are drawn to this like maybe didn't cut it in formal education, and so now for the first time they're like, wait, maybe I was made for this kind of work.
And it's got to provide them hope too.
Yeah, absolutely rewarding.
It's very cool, it's very cool to witness and watch the student's journey from the first day of class.
To the end.
This just got to cost some money, though, it does. Where does all this money come from?
We fundraise, we've got partners, we've we've had the privilege, I mean being in the trades industry. I mean, it doesn't take much to approach you know, someone, you know, a lumber company and say hey, we want to train up the next generation of tradesmen for them to be like, yeah, we get.
It, we want to.
I mean, we've got a lumber company by us Cukan Brothers that donate all the lumber every semester.
You're kidding, Yeah, wow.
Just like and and not just them, but all these different companies that are like, we want to be part of the solution. It doesn't I mean, it doesn't take much, but there is. You know, there's a lot of fundraising.
I think I've read did you win a grant from Impact?
Yes?
Yeah, I think do you know the founder of that organization, Wendy Steele, has been a guest.
Yeah. Alex was telling me it's such a small world.
When she the very first one she started, and she said, you know, she got sick of watching females work their butts off for two weeks to put together a yard sale on a bank sale to raise six thousand dollars. Wow, guys raised twenty thousand dollars by writing checks at the golf course. And she said, you know what, women can write checks too.
How cool?
And started Impact and yeah, Impact one hundred and now I think they've raised one hundred million dollars hundred twenty three million, give way one hundred thousand dollars at a time. And you guys were sipping about thousand dollars grant from that chapter up in wherever.
Yeah, up in Jersey. A small world is such a small We.
Have talked about three different podcasts. Yes, since we've started talking.
Can I listen to that podcast?
I think they're actually, I mean they're going to have to fact check me, but I think they're funding We're going to start an auto mechanics program in the fall. And I think they funded our lifts.
Yeah.
Yeah, So there's another connection to the army of normal.
Folks in that wild It's very cool.
It is very cool. So I found Alex provided this, which I think is really interesting. So New Hopes Ministry, which helps families and poverty with the myriad of services has grown rapidly. Since we took on the air quarters in twenty eighteen, we helped them transform another two four resident home into a food pantry. The demo was twenty five thousand dollars and you guys did it for ten and save them fifteen grand, And that's fifteen thousand dollars they can put us for service. Another one was in power sports camps. The job estimate to do their thing was thirty four eight hundred. You guys did it for ninety eight hundred and save them twenty five thousand dollars. So you really are the nonprofit for nonprofits. And what that the beauty of it is is what you save these nonprofits and go on into their pockets. It's just money that they're working to raise to serve that they can turn around and give. So your work not only saves the nonprofit, but it saves the people they're trying to serve exponentially. And in the meantime, you've got a mentorship program teaching people who really don't have a way to make a living to not only make a great living, but fill needs for contractors that they can't otherwise filly. I mean, it's a full circle. It's very cool philanthropy.
It's very cool because you know, like there's a lot of efforts that you could say, you know, it's the teach a man to fish kind of concept. You know, you could solve the immediate need, but if you're not figuring out how to create sustainability in that, it'll only go so far. And I think again, it's such a been so cool to be a part of just seeing the the sustainable impact in all directions that we had this small part, but it ripples into their ministries and it's very neat.
Tell me about Gamer virgin Am I saying, yes, tell me about him?
So he he was in one of our first few semesters of the CPM course. So funny he he came in on like the second day of class, held up his phone to the director and said, Hey, I'm redoing my my apartment and I have no idea what I'm doing.
Can you can you tell me what to do?
And he's just this personality that's like I'm going to figure out, I'm going to do it. But he he came into our program to learn construction, did really well in the program.
That is a really good question. So he came.
I'm trying to remember if he was born here or he moved here from Jamaica, but I think he was doing work with his father in terms of real estate was kind of what he was doing. But he was trying to make it in the trades.
And certainly that I'm gainfully employed, yes, definitely not didn't hadn't built a career here basically, And so he went through our program, did really well, and then we brought him on as an intern and he stayed.
On staff for I'm trying to remember how many years, quite a like maybe like two years, two to three years, and then kind of just grew and skill working working alongside our staff. Then got a job in like leadership management for like a building management kind of moved moved onto that, and then now has grown so much that now he runs his own remodeling company.
How it just make you feel, man, It's just it's very very cool.
And he you know, he still comes back every so often and visits class, and it's like it's amazing to see the fruit of the impact.
In his life. Right Like now he's married with two little ones and has his own company and has his own company.
He changed his life. We'll be right back. Do you do you take the time to look in the mirror and say, wow, what we're doing.
I take a lot of time to sit reflect and I don't know, thank God and all the people that really just mentored.
Me to get here.
You know, I'm really passionate about the fact that any of us can.
Make tremendous impact.
We just got to know what we're good at and got to use it to serve people. And so, yeah, it's it's been a wild ride. I would have would have never expected it, but it's been really cool to be a part of I have a cool story about a student that I think epitomizes kind of yeah.
Yeah, so actually this past year.
So let me just start by saying, like, my favorite part about our program is that it's not just about skill building but about like life building and mentorship. And I think our whole program, because we're run completely by volunteers, it creates this culture that there's a family that comes out of these classes. And so there's there's this one student, Kevin, who I think his story kind of epitomizes that. I mean, he came into came into the CPM course, really fun personality, really clicked with all the teachers, and even like I would say, about halfway through the course, was already doing some jobs with three of the Mason's one of the contractors, just really embodying really building all these relationships with ours, with our teachers, and there's a few that really kind of mentored him throughout the process. But uh before you know, by the middle of the course, he was also showing up on Saturdays with his with his friend Jared, who was also in the program, and they were coming to volunteer. So they were going to class during the week and then coming on Saturdays. And so I just to kind of illustrate the importance that you know, our ministry kind of built in terms of community.
First of all, Jared was canceling his.
Paid job just to com and volunteer, Wow, and work with us, right probably need no, I mean, two best friends from Patterson, you know, still really young, building their career. But I think the community that was built and the education and the mentorship really really gave them something that they maybe didn't.
Have before them.
How to do the work, but how to live.
Absolutely absolutely, we start every night with a core value and we tie that to the industry and tie that to life. But one time, keV so So one Friday night at like two am, gets into a car accident, car totaled, you know, like just it was a little it was a bit of a scary incident. I have permission to share this story.
But he comes in.
The next day, he shows up to the site and he had like he had no car, had this like traumatic accident and had walked like three miles to get to our site just to volunteer with the crew. And and you know, it's you know, it's just one one little story of his journey. I mean, he there's there's tons of things of the relationships that were kind of built in his life.
But but it kind of.
Shows the impact that our communities are, our program is making on these these kids that the guy had, The.
Guy totaled his cars, walk three miles in order to volunteer.
Yes, yes, to come up with to come and volunteer.
Yeah, I mean he's doing He's working three days a week with one of our lead contractors that teaches the class.
He also has got.
Some real estate stuff going on at the same time. He'll pick up work for another one of the Masons. That really just he really clicked with that Mason and came part of the family, went to the church for the first time with him, and really there's yeah, it's there's a lot of really really cool stories that happen with these students and and yeah, it's at.
That's kind of how it works in it get you find your inspiration and your payoff and the work you do in the most unlikely places often absolutely, and I guess a story like Kevin is what feels you to keep.
Going, absolutely absolutely, because it's it's more than I mean, obviously, equipping him with a skill to get a job is incredible, but it's it's more than that. It's you know, providing a place where you know they want to work harder because they now have the confidence because people are believing in them, and gives them the motivation to to, you know, grow in life.
This all started from you know, one dude and some guys like your dad wanting to help and just kind of a loosely organized thing that is now a great organization teaching and serving and being a financial for philanthropies. And the other thing I think that's amazing about it is is scalable why couldn't you do this in every city?
Well, that's that's a thought. Actually, we've tell me. Yeah, So.
We've been I feel like the last two years we've been in conversations about, Okay, how do we take what we have and put it on paper and figure out how to replicate this. There's talks of there's another town in Jersey that we're in talks of another building and another location of Jersey where there's talks of planting another location there.
I think I think it's very.
I think it could really spread and have multiple locations. Obviously there's Jersey, isn't the only state that's hurting for workers and.
Yeah, literally every day.
And so our process has really been the last two years trying to figure out how do we so much of this has been organic and in our heads, and how do we put this in a system on paper that we can kind of pass it off and say, hey, let's do a location here, let's do a location there.
So obviously we pay attention to all of the building data and analytics in my business. And one of the one of the starkest reminders of the shape we're in is that my children are twenty five, six, seven, and eighty eight, seven, twenty six, twenty five. Their generation, what are they? They're not millennials. What are they generation? What are my kids?
They might be low end millennial into Gen Z.
They're I'm kind of like the middle.
Whatever they are. They're definitely low end that but anyway, I think they are j Z's there. That generation is the first generation. No, I'm not saying this. That generation has waited longer to marry and buy property. It's the longest waiting generation in American history. But as a result, these kids are ready to get out of their parents' basement. They're ready to quit renting. That generation is finally starting to enter the market, the housing market, and as a result of the housing market, the furniture market, results of the furniture market, the flooring market, and it's a very large generation. And because Baby Boomers are still living, there's few and fewer used houses becoming available, so you've got second hand home is being lived in longer, and a large generation who hasn't been buying now entering the marketplace. And as a result, there is a seven year estimated deficit of housing coming up over the next decade. Seven year deficeit of housing both single family a multi family meaning stand alone homes and condos or apartments. At the exact same time, there is sixty fewer people in the trades than there were ten years ago. So we have a seven year deathsit of housing with a massive demand coming up and half of the people available in our country to build these structures than there was only ten years ago. What does that mean? Housing is going to be expensive because it's supply and demand. There's huge demand, less supply, less people to build the supply, thus is driving housing up, and that is exacerbating the problems of overly expensive housing in places like Manhattan and LA and San Francisco where you see this homeless boon, which is also why you see housing in places like Texas and Florida and Tennessee absolutely exploding because it's much there and there's still some labor available.
Yeah.
Yeah, So when you put all of that together, when I hear your story, I think there's a need for your organization literally in every city in the country. The training part, the mentoring part, and the growing the nonprofits part that are getting involved in doing this work. I mean, I think the little thing that you guys now have grown into a big thing in that area could grow into a national thing with a lot of welcome mats back contractors in cities. I mean, so, do you want to export it or do you want to just share the idea with others to do it?
Yeah? I mean or both kind of both.
Actually, funny story, we had this group from Wisconsin that found us online, reached out and said, hey, we want to do this, can we come and learn? They flew out to New Jersey, stayed with our director for like, I don't know, maybe like four days, kind of learned all these things, went back, started asking around, and we have like a meeting in a week or two just talking through the minutia. They formed a board, they formed an organization, and and in that way, we just want to help them start their thing right.
And so best in keeping with your whole topic, I mean.
We don't we don't need to profit from it. I mean we see a need and we want we want. Our heart is that we want to equip other people to take take the skills that they've been given, the resources.
They've been given, and to serve the community.
And if it means inspiring other groups to do it, I mean, you know, our world's better.
You're doing it in Wisconsin, but why not the rest of the country.
Yeah, it's a fair point.
So that's kind of what we're trying to We're trying to systematize our our back end to figure out how we can kind of be prepared to do.
So if anybody wants to start their own or partner with you guys, which you'd probably be open to either.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
We've been in the process of like copywriting our curriculum and kind of really trying to formalize these things so that you know, we can be kind of a catalyst to other people stepping up and doing it in their own communities.
So if somebody listened to us wants to do this, how do they get in touch with you?
Yeah, I mean I would say reach out on our website. I mean they could, they could reach out.
We've got an info email. I see all of them, So tell me what it is.
Yeah, So it's info at Servants heartenjay dot org.
Say that's slower, you said it like somebody from New Jersey from Memphis.
That's rights info at Servants.
Heart Servants plural.
Heart servants heart njay as in New Jersey dot org.
Got it and they come to you, and.
They come to us, fill outur contact form, email, send an email.
Last question still got to be pretty much a male dominated thing. Yes, what's it like for you? You're now mid thirties. I guess I'm trying to do the math form. Ye, surely, yep, mid thirties female, you know, fashion person that thought they'd be total pails to.
The men males of the meal.
Yeah, and now this male dominated construction thing is is there any chance that girls see you and say, hey, I can do this too, because that because we don't need to limit this opportunity and need to half the population.
Absolutely for sure. Yeah.
I mean it's been a wild, very cool experience coming from like only ever working with women to only working with men. But but it's been it's been really cool because I just feel like I work with the coolest group of.
Guys and girls. Now we've have a lot of girls.
They are coming in now.
Yeah, absolutely, our sites are filled with female else but and and actually with our program, we graduate about fifteen percent females.
That's all program, which is really cool, all of them going. Yeah, like different ones.
We've had different interests, you know, all around, but we've got I feel like there's been a decent amount interested. We have a welding course that are going into welding. But I mean part of I mean part of my heart when I'm still serving on Saturdays, because I just love.
Being you still volunteer on Saturdays an organization.
You know. I mean, I'm I'm paid to be there. I'm not a volunteer.
I can't take all that credit, but but I still love working alongside the volunteers, and I do. I really I love being able to serve with the females because, yeah, I think there it's fun to watch things click as they learn and the confidence kind of developed. This summer, I hosted a program, a summer program called Girls Shop Talk, which was a wood shop and Bible study for teen girls.
And it was just.
Wood shop and Bible study.
I haven't heard yet, Yeah it was. It was a weird combination.
But it was just the coolest because I had all these thirteen to sixteen year year old girls come in and I rallied up some of my friends who are handy, and it was really cool watching them go from being terrified of a chop saw to just like kind of hammer.
Yeah, it was. It was the first time.
You know, I'm kind of on the outskirts watching all these trades guys engage with these students, and it was the first time I was like, No, I get to be in the in the teacher and kind of empowering these. I mean, I really like carpentry, but I've become the go to tiler on site.
Really.
Yes, So I've tiled a lot of bathrooms, ironical, and it was my first one clicked, and it was it's it clicked.
And have you learned enough that you could build a house? You think you could do it with guidance?
No, I couldn't build a house myself, but I think I could do I could do a decent amount.
I mean I I've sat.
And formulated all the curriculum with the trades guys. So I learned and now I can. I know enough to be dangerous, but I think I could help.
Did you ever think sitting in design school would be the track of your life?
No, it would have never ever crossed my mind. But it's I was, I was telling Alex in the car.
You know, I look back and it's just like I would have never expected any of the stuff that I've done in the last few years. But it's weird until you try something, you don't know if you're made for it, and it's just I would never go back. It's just the coolest environment I've loved. I've loved learning construction and being around all these guys and really meeting needs in our tangible.
Needs in our community.
Uscina Mendez the daughter of two hardworking children of immigrants from Cuma, Puerto Rico, growing up in New Jersey and a really average, middle class, hard working family whose parents always gave and I guess illustrated you the importance of service. And here you are, a former fashion designer running a nonprofit both teaching kids young adults how to enter the trades and a very needed capacity, and being part of running a philanthropy for philanthropist, a nonprofit for nonprofits, and changing lives in the process. What an amazing story. Well, your work is amazing, your work is needed, your work is appreciated, and your humility is I guess passed down to you naturally. Bless your parents and bless you, and thank you so much for joining me.
Thank you so much for having me.
This is so fun, and thank you for joining us this week. If Christina Mendez or another guest has inspired you in general, or better yet, to take action by donating the Servant's Heart Ministry, by starting something like it in your own area, or something else entirely. Please let me know. I'd love to hear about it. You can write me anytime at Bill at normalfolks dot us, and guys, you can ask anybody who's emailed me. I will respond. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends and on social subscribe to the podcast, rate and review it. Become a premium member at normalfolks dot us. All the things that can help us grow an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney. I'll see you next week.