Katie Bugg wasn’t interested in a career in construction when she signed up for the Five Skies training program more than four years ago.
At the time, Bugg was a single mom with no job in the first year of recovery from a drug addiction. The program included a $300 stipend. “To be honest, I signed up for that,” she said.
Fast forward to today, however, and Bugg, who is enrolled in the Red Lake Nation, gained that one-time stipend and a life-changing experience that landed her a steady career. She’s now a member of the Laborers Union 1091, nearly vested with a pension.
“I never thought I would be excited about the future or anything,” Bugg said. “I never had any plans or goals. I have financial security and can take care of my kids.”
With offices in Wisconsin and Minnesota, Five Skies helps Native Americans like Bugg and others build successful lives. The empowerment program includes frank conversations that address the grief, loss and trauma that many grapple with, along with workplace readiness skills.
“It bettered my life completely,” Bugg said.
Five Skies Transforms Native American Lives with Construction Careers and Mentoring
The genesis for Five Skies began when its founders and owners, husband and wife duo Nick and Nyree Kendrowski, worked in separate careers. Nyree was in social services for her nation, the Ho-Chunk Nation. She worked with at-risk youth, who she found knew little about their culture and history.
Nick was a Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance or Office (TERO) director for the Ho-Chunk Nation. The TERO ordinance requires that employers with a business on a reservation give preference to qualified Native Americans for employment and contracting. Nick, a member of the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, helped place tribe members in construction jobs, but he found that many didn’t last long.
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“They would only be there for a week or until they got their first check, and then they would come back home,” Nyree said.
Nick was trying to figure out why workers wouldn’t stay on the job when Nyree told him about the training she had completed through White Bison, an internationally recognized, Native American-operated training institute.
Its programs, including Mending Broken Hearts and Medicine Wheel trainings, focus on helping Native Americans heal from unresolved grief in their communities. That trauma stems from historical and current experiences, including federally supported boarding schools that separated children from their parents for more than 150 years with the intention of erasing their culture.
Researchers have found that Native Americans suffer from higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and suicide when compared to the general US population, according to Mass General Brigham.
“It’s a lot of anger that comes out because people don’t understand what was really done to us,” Nyree said.
Nick asked Nyree to test the program with the people he was working with at the time—and it made a difference. Five Skies launched about seven years ago. “We started incorporating it full time with the training, and we’ve seen huge success with our participants,” Nyree said. Of the program’s graduates, so far, 60% are still working. TERO’s success rate was closer to 5%, she said.
Building Confidence and Skills: The Key to Career Transformation
For Bugg, the Mending Broken Hearts piece of Five Skies’ training was transformative. She was confused at first, wondering what talking about generational trauma or holding shame or guilt had to do with a construction career. But she began to connect it with her own past work experiences, such as often showing up late. Through the program, she learned how to be vulnerable.
“We all hold something, and not knowing that holding onto that will keep us held back—that’s what I learned out of it,” Bugg said. “I was able to let go of some things. I was able to look at myself through a different lens. After that first week, it started to click.”
From there, the program digs into more traditional workplace readiness instruction. It includes instruction on soft skills, such as communication and problem-solving. Participants learn how to create a resume and interview. They can get training in first aid and CPR and OSHA 30 General Industry. And they’re introduced to people who work in different trades and unions.
For Bugg, the program’s sessions on financial literacy were particularly helpful. Nyree said many participants didn’t learn the basics of personal finance growing up. And, because of the seasonal nature of construction work, too many don’t know how to stretch their paychecks to ensure they have money all year, she said.
“It taught us about credit scores, and it taught us about how to budget,” Bugg said. “Nobody ever sat down with me and taught me about this kind of thing.”
Continuous Support: How Five Skies Ensures Long-Term Success for Participants
Even after graduating from the program, Five Skies was still ready to help Bugg. As she began her career, it helped her with union fees and paid for the boots she needed.
Ongoing mentoring is a mainstay of the program to reduce barriers that might prevent participants’ ongoing success. “Once they leave, we always tell them it’s not one and done; they have our phone number; they have our email; they can reach out to us, Nyree said.
Now, Five Skies is working to expand its reach. It’s also open to non-Native American participants as well, such as women, veterans and other minorities. And it recently launched a new platform to bring contractors and Five Skies graduates together. “When contractors are looking for people, they have at their ready a list of graduates with construction credentials,” Nyree said.
Nyree said she’s thrilled with the success of the program and its graduates, whether they continue in construction or find another career. “I love what I do because it’s rewarding,” Nyree said. “To have a small part of their success, it’s amazing to see them just go out there and shine.”
