HOPE crew learns new job skills at Prince William Forest Park

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This summer, a group of young adults will be learning a new set of job skills at Prince William Forest Park.

The park is hosting the Hands on Preservation Experience (HOPE) crew to work on a 10-week preservation project at two of their cabin camp sites.

The HOPE crew is part of a program with the National Trust Program under the National Park Service and the Conservation Cores. Their funding comes from National Park Service from various sources in their budget, said HOPE crew Associate Director Monica Rhodes.

A chance for young adults to get into the historic preservation field

The program, which started last year, gives 18 to 25 year olds around the country a chance to work on preservation jobs in national parks.

“Most of the people we work with have an interest in history, and an interest in buildings, but haven’t put those two things together, and that’s where you get historic preservation. Taking care of, and learning about structures that are in need of repair and rehab,” said Rhodes.

According to Rhodes, the program is a way to get younger people involved in stewardship of national parks,

“Right now we have four [HOPE crew] members working in this park…they’re reglazing windows…they fix broken windows – they replace those…The National Park Service has been a great partner, in not only helping us to identify historic resources, but also sharing the history of the parks. Many of the CORE members have not had an opportunity to come to parks before. So they wouldn’t be in these parks if they weren’t here to work on a HOPE crew project. So they’re learning the history, they’re learning about park service,” said Rhodes.

Rhodes stated that there is a need for a new generation of workers in historic preservation, as many of the preservation professionals are nearing retirement age, and this program gives young adults a rare ‘foot in the door’.

“Most of the people who are your preservation masons…preservation and master carpenters are 75, 80 years old…so there’s this big gap of people who are about to retire…and young people who are interested in these things, but there’s really not an opportunity to practice these skills, to learn these skills, to really get into the field,” Rhodes commented.

The work HOPE crew members are doing at Prince William Forest Park

Currently, the four HOPE crew members and park maintenance staff are working to restore and preserve historic windows and chimneys at two of their cabin camp sites.

According to Rocky Schroeder, a spokesman for Prince William Forest Park, the crew is doing well, five weeks into the project.

“This is something where they can say, ‘Hey I was on the HOPE crew, and I helped do this,’ and have satisfaction. They’re doing quite well,” said Schroeder.

One of the crew members, Tikerra Smith, is a local Woodbridge resident and Potomac High School graduate.

“I’ve been glazing windows, painting them – restoring glass. I’ve taken windows out and put them back in and soon hopefully I’ll start to go work on the chimneys…it’s an experience I wanted, plus it’s a summer job. I can use [these skills] in the future,” said Smith.

Another one of the HOPE crew members is Longwood University sophomore Devin Teachey, who feels he will use the job skills again in the future.

“Before [this summer] I’d never done this before…the best thing about what I’m doing is learning new skills. Maybe in the future I can do this again,” said Teachey.