ENR's 2004 Award of Excellence Winner - Kristina Reinholtz
About a year ago, Kristina Reinholtz became tired of drifting from job to job. The 22-year-old enlisted in the Army in 2000, hoping to be trained for a career as a heavy wheel mechanic. But while going through basic training at Fort Sill, Okla., she "blew out" her knee. In January 2001, Private Reinholtz received an honorable disabled discharge.
"I was just clueless about what I was going to do," Reinholtz says. Back home in Salt Lake City, she "did some day care, some data entry jobs, some delivery jobs." In early 2004, while using the Internet to job search, she found a Website that caught her attentionwww.helmetstohardhats.org. The program promised military veterans careers in construction. Now a carpenters union apprentice in Las Vegas, she says it changed her life.