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Information can be a powerful tool in the right hands. That holds true for the trades, and Portland mason apprentice Kirstie Reeves knows it firsthand.

After suffering abuse from her husband and navigating a bitter divorce, she said, Reeves was looking for ways to support three children and herself.

鈥淚 was a housewife,鈥� Reeves, 29, said. 鈥淎nd honestly, baking has always been my passion, so I thought if I ever did go back to work it would be as a baker.鈥�

But Reeves turned to her family for advice, and got a rather surprising answer from her mother: Why not attend the Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. Career Fair? The annual two-day event hosted each spring by Portland-based OTI connects high school students with more than 100 companies and public agencies that employ skilled tradespeople.

鈥淚 came with my mom because I was asking, 鈥榃hat am I going to do?’鈥� Reeves said. 鈥淚’ve got three kids. I was pretty much homeless. I was living on (my family’s) couch and I had to file for all the state assistance.鈥�

So in 2015 Reeves and her mom visited the fair in Northeast Portland and gathered information on a number of possible careers. Instead of the electrical trade, however, it was masonry that caught Reeves’ attention.

鈥淎ctually they have a yellow sheet that has information about all the different trades, their incomes, their requirements, what you have to do,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd so one day I was having coffee and (masonry) was the one that called out to me.鈥�

Reeves ended up enrolling in an International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) masonry pre-apprenticeship program. Now she is employed by J&S Masonry of Portland.

鈥淚 am an 80 percent apprentice,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have 2,000 hours or so to go to be a journeyman. It is getting close and I’m happy about that.鈥�

Reeves also volunteered to staff a BAC booth at this year’s career fair 鈥� the 26th 鈥� at the NECA-IBEW Electrical Training Center in Northeast Portland. There, more than 1,700 female students from 75 Oregon high schools attended the Friday session to learn about the many options in skilled trades. Saturday’s session was open to the general public for the same purpose.

On Friday, after helping Evergreen High School student Justice Trujillo apply a layer of mortar in a simulated brick wall, Reeves was all smiles.

鈥淚f I had known about this in high school then I never would have wasted my time going to college,鈥� she said. 鈥淚’m a high-energy person, and that’s one thing about my trade is that I’m always go, go, go, go.鈥�

Stories like Reeves’ are what OTI Executive Director Kelly Kupcak enjoys most about her job. In her first year at the helm, Kupcak surveyed her first career fair as an OTI employee Friday and said the empowerment granted to young people by knowledge of opportunities available is what makes the organizational work worthwhile.

鈥淲e’re really proud of the work we do,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is one big event here that exposes young people and adults to opportunities in the skilled trades. And we know not everybody is going to go into those careers, but if you watch the kids, you see that moment where they go from like tentative to 鈥極h my gosh; I just did this thing.’ This moment is how all young people should feel empowered to do whatever they want.鈥�

The event featured hands-on demonstrations by dozens of contractors, public safety agencies and others. There was a simulated water main break run by the Portland Water Bureau, a Bremik Construction carpentry station where students built wooden toolboxes and even a cutting torch station hosted by Iron Workers Local 29.

Students could also try out a Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue fire hose, wire an electrical light with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48 or learn about heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration with the UA Local 290 Plumbers and Steamfitters.

Crescent Valley High School speech language pathology teacher Megan Postelwait may not be experienced in the trades. But she certainly knows the value of a solid career. That’s why she led a contingent of students to the career fair. Crescent Valley is using Paths 2 the Future grant money from the University of Oregon, she said, to expose girls to traditionally male-dominated professions, including the skilled trades.

鈥淲e wanted them to get some hands-on experience,鈥� said Postelwait as she watched her students build toolboxes at the Bremik Construction station. 鈥淚t’s been good. They’ve had huge smiles climbing ladders, welding and doing things they don’t do in the classroom.鈥�

There is a growing recognition in some circles of the limits of focusing exclusively on a college path for high school students, Postelwait said.

鈥淚 think our district is working toward having more diverse exposure educationally and then making sure those are all-inclusive as well,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re going to have some kind of programming next year, and I think that districts are seeing that there is a possible shortage in the trades, so we want to make sure our kids have that exposure.鈥�

Kupcak, a former heavy equipment operator, worked with trade groups Hard-Hatted Women and Chicago Women in Trades before moving to Oregon earlier this year.

鈥淭hey are powerful stories,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 talked to a sister today who’s in the (Laborers Local 320) now, and she came to them from being incarcerated formerly, and she told us this career fair changed her life. That gets you right there in the heart.鈥�

Women continue to be underserved in construction and related industries and also have higher rates of poverty than men when heading households, Kupcak said. This makes offering viable living-wage jobs to women more crucial.

鈥淔or us, yes, it is about connecting women to these good careers,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it’s also about 鈥� they have kids, and they need these opportunities to care for their families and be economically self-sufficient; real jobs, with real opportunities for growth, and benefits. It’s really powerful.鈥�