Alaska works partnership builds rural neighborhoods.(CONSTRUCTION)

In an Alaska village tucked along the Kuskokwim Delta, local construction .workers are building houses for their neighbors and helping to meet the critical housing needs of rural Alaskans.

Since Alaska Works Partnership Inc.'s Building Maintenance Repairer program began in 2001, the Association of Village Council Presidents has built 198 new homes with 18 additional units slated for summer construction and dozens in the planning stages. The projects employ 500 to 700 workers during the construction season, generating $5 million to $7 million in wages for local residents, according to AWP.

Stanley Berlin of Kasigluk says training local workers for rural construction projects is a good idea. He is a field superintendent for the AVCP Regional Housing Authority and heads up a project to build seven new homes in his village.

"My son is working right along side me," Berlin said. "He went to the summer construction academy at Bethel and then went to work right here in the village." Berlin graduated from the BMR Apprentice Program in April 2004.

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