Women Under Construction

Around 2006, former multi-million dollar realtor Shellie Layne found herself divorced, a mom and overwhelmed by caring for a home and child. She says she was “a mess.” But she found a way to change her life and the lives of other women like her.

Because of her real estate background, Layne says she started writing a column, “At Home with Shellie,” for the Birmingham Times. She had a background in real estate, and now she found herself taking care of a home alone. She thought others could use her expertise.

The column was to help families with home buying and home repairs, and the column “took off,” Layne explains.

The success of this column, along with her passion for helping and empowering women, especially low-income single mothers and their children and older people, led Layne to create the Women Under Construction Network in 2014, a nonprofit organization that helps women who find themselves in her shoes.

The Women Under Construction Network (WUCN), part of the At Home Foundation, led Layne to her “calling.” This organization has helped thousands of women, especially those in underserved and low-income communities, maintain homes and rebuild their lives. Past initiatives of the program have also included support for victims of domestic violence and homelessness and home repair assistance to the elderly who want to remain at home but whose deteriorating homes and low incomes have prohibited them from doing so.

Today, the WUCN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit made up of five professionals and a multitude of programs led by Layne. Its programs include basic home repair services, appliances, furnishings, groceries and even utility payments to qualified recipients. WUCN also helps with basic proficiency in non-traditional skills in “traditionally male-dominated home repair.” Today, the organization, led by Layne as CEO, works with contractors to help with classes and who help emphasize ethics and proper home repair protocol.

WUCN is constantly growing, offering classes, series, events and more, and most are done in parallel with a life lesson, Layne explains. She even offers Zoom sessions now and serves women in 62 cities via Zoom. Additional WUCN services include:

• Mom’s Toolshed
• Youth Tools Life (YT4Life)
• Seminars on financial stability
• IBUILD-University, Building Female Leaders Initiative
• The WILAH Project (What I Learned at Home) helping residents of public housing
• Saturday Morning Build Session
• Toolbox Tuesdays
• Media Campaigns focusing on issues affecting women and home life
• Building Your Defense – self-defense with the Sheriff’s Department

YT4Life began in the fall of 2022, and Winifred Patterson, the director, got involved when she moved to Birmingham from New York and connected with Layne in early 2023. This program is in conjunction with the city of Birmingham Parks and Recreation and its Safe Haven program (birminghamal.gov/parks-and-recreation). YT4Life is free to participants.

“Inner city youth have become targets and victims of poor home environments, poverty, lack of self-esteem, limited parental supervision and diminished behavioral skills,” Layne explains. “YT4Life addresses these issues with a fun, unique, creative, education/tool approach.”

“This supervised after-school program is for ages 5-16 with tools and a home repair theme,” Patterson explains. Running from 3-5:30 p.m. through the school year, kids in Central Park and Ensley play all types of sports and get help with homework, but also learn to use tools for home repairs like saws, plungers, hard-hat-type tools, and even painting. “We recently built bookcases and painted them for the library,” Patterson says.

This summer, YT4LIfe offers a girls’ one-week pilot version, “Girls’ Tools for Life,” Patterson points out. In addition to using tools, the girls will also have instruction in etiquette and other life skills, she adds.

“Patterson was brought on board to direct the YT4Life program, and as we sought to discover more of her skills and experience, we learned that she had a son, Wyatt, who was on the autism spectrum,” Layne explains. “She was passionate about making certain that other moms were spared the pain of various obstacles and lack of resources for their unique children,” Layne continues. “After much prayer, planning and diligence, we decided to Launch Mom’s Toolshed, a program to support mothers with special needs children.”

Mom’s Toolshed began early this year and provides moms with all sorts of workshops and other things they need. Patterson says children can come along and have fun, too. “Most of all, we talk….We recently created vision boards for the moms’ vision of where they want their family to be.”

WUCN is constantly adding workshops and programs, Layne says. For more information on upcoming events, visit wucnetwork.org or follow on social media.

“If you can fix your home, repair your life and family, you can fix the world,” Layne says.