Empowering Women Through Construction
- HFHGC
- Apr 7
- 2 min read
In honor of Women’s Month, we're spotlighting the incredible women inspiring other women on build sites across the region. Through careers in construction, hands-on volunteering and the Habitat Construction Training Program, women are gaining skills, confidence, and opportunities to build stronger futures—both for themselves and for families in need of affordable housing.
Holly Dorning- Savage and Felicia Deitmaring lead the Construction Training Program at Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati and have both spent years building homes in partnership with Habitat Homeowners. Because it is not as common to see women in construction leadership, both women recount stories of men not trusting them on a build site or assuming that because they are women, they didn't know what they were doing. “In construction there's a right and a wrong way to do things, but often there's multiple ways to get to the end goal,” says Holly. “Sometimes leading a construction site is about balancing accepting feedback with sticking up for yourself.”
“It can be intimidating to be on a construction site, and we hope with our Construction Training Program and with our volunteers that we take some of that intimidation out,” says Felicia. “It is a safe space. We're going to make sure that they're doing things the right way, the safe way, but this is their chance to go for it and learn. It's amazing how happy and proud everyone is at the end of the day.”
“That’s the beauty of Habitat. From the very beginning our idea is to bring in community to teach and to empower to help provide affordable housing,” adds Holly.
Holly says that she was motivated to join HFHGC seven years ago once she learned that there were already other strong women leading construction sites. “I immediately felt more at ease knowing that there were women out there doing it.”
Each cohort of the Construction Training Program has about 1 woman to every 8 men. The program is designed to equip people who are new to the construction trades with the skills to begin careers in the construction industry. Holly says, “I think it is eye opening for the women in the class to realize they can do these things—that I’m just as good and skilled and as strong as these people around me.”
“I've said this to several of the women in the class if you don't see yourself on a construction site then you're going to have to be that example for the next person. So just get out there do it make your money, because there's a lot of money in the construction industry, so go get your piece,” says Felicia
