Mass. program helps out American Indian veterans

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

Army veteran Craig Cournoyer left behind his community of 400 people on a South Dakota reservation, moving thousands of miles to learn how to fix moldy, broken-down ventilation systems.

With the nearest town 30 miles away, there is not enough skilled labor remaining among his fellow Yankton Sioux in Wagner, S.D. Any construction work puts a financial drain on the tribe, because members have to hire outside workers.

"There's lots of work out there, but nobody there is trained to do it," said Cournoyer, 47.

A program specifically designed for American Indian veterans aims to help ease that burden, by providing training in carpentry, ventilation, plumbing, electrical work and more at some of the nation's premier trade and craft schools in the Boston area.

The goal of the Veterans Construction Crew program at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford is to have the veterans return home with skills they can use-and pass on. The goal is to break a cycle of poverty, unemployment and substandard housing.

Full article here: http://www.baystatebanner.com/issues/2008/01/17/news/local01170814.htm