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Member News: Wells Fargo Volunteer Day Targets Impact at Scale with Student-Built Modular ADUs
San Rafael High Schoolers Help Build Tiny Homes
Local students joined volunteers this month to build modular tiny homes, supporting affordable housing efforts in Marin County.
San Rafael students build tiny homes and new skills.
"San Rafael High School senior Bodhi Shipley was proud to see the results of 10 months of work to build two tiny homes from scratch in the school parking lot.
Shipley, 18, said he plans to use the new skills for part-time work in his family’s construction business while he earns a degree at St. Mary’s College in Moraga.
“My favorite part is seeing that there was nothing here before, and now it’s here,” he said. “I’m happy it will help someone.”
The 8-by-20-foot homes — on display Thursday as the project wrapped up for the year — are part of an effort coordinated by Big Skills, Tiny Homes, a group launched in 2019 by San Anselmo resident Sean Ticknor.
Unlike previous homes on trailers assembled by the organization, the homes produced by 48 San Rafael High School students are ready for installation on permanent foundations as accessory dwelling units."
Building Better.
"For some, tiny homes are novelties; for others, they’re a lifestyle. But for Sean Ticknor, constructing these petite dwellings is the foundation of his nonprofit, Big Skills Tiny Homes. Based in Marin, Ticknor’s organization has been teaching young adults how to build tiny homes from scratch to completion since 2019."
Jefferson Award winner story
Sean Ticknor founder and Executive Director of Big Skills honored with the Jefferson Award, which celebrates extraordinary service to others performed by grassroots unsung heroes from the San Francisco Bay Area.
How to...
... build a tiny house
Tiny House Donated to wildfire survivor.
Young People Test Drive Trade Jobs By Building A Tiny Home. link
"Sean Ticknor knows his way around a job site. He also knows the value of an increasingly rare commodity that these job sites need to keep humming: skilled labor. "
How to build a tiny home: Expert advice from Sean Ticknor, link
"Each new project begins in September, when Ticknor’s sons go back to school. Over the course of nine months, his students learn about every element of the process, from insulation and electrical, to carpentry and plumbing, as well as tiling and roofing. "
Tiny houses empower homeless youth. link
"Sean Ticknor, Executive Director of Big Skills Tiny Homes based in
Fairfax, volunteered to build one of four ADA-compliant tiny homes with larger doors to accommodate wheelchairs. During the build, which lasted from September to November, Ticknor trained and offered scholarships to four people who wanted to learn construction skills"
Big Skills Tiny Homes teaches on the job. link
"Indeed, students these days need more options upon graduation, as well as mentors to help them navigate those options. Through the process of building a tiny home from start to finish, students are exposed to a variety of trade disciplines and are then mentored afterward to use their experiences to identify their future career path."
Young people gain skills while building tiny home link
“There is pressure to go to college,” Ticknor says. “I see the need to offer high school graduates an additional option, an option that would give them the opportunity and time to experience the trades, and build their skills and confidence.”
Experience in the trades can lead to a “financially rewarding and satisfying career without the accumulation of considerable debt,” he says.
Building Career Skills: Solar System Learning
Interview by inspirational host, Tavia Avila, of Founder and Executive Director of BSTH, Sean Ticknor,
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