In the spring of 2023, while taking a quick break from operating a forklift, Michael Vincent noticed a troubling bank notification on his phone. His checking and savings accounts had both been wiped out by fraud. As the stress mounted, he returned to the job site only to lash out at a colleague, prompting a supervisor to suggest he take a moment. That’s when he headed for the Moment Room — a quiet space designed specifically for mental health breaks on the Oregon State Capitol renovation project.

“I sat down and took some deep breaths,” Vincent recalled. He’s returned to the room many times since, finding it a rare refuge in the bustling, high-stakes world of construction.

The Moment Room, set up in a single-wide trailer with noise-dampening walls and two red leather chairs, offers something nearly unheard of on large construction sites: privacy. Nearby sits a second trailer known as the GUTS Room — short for Get Us There Safe — part of a safety and wellness campaign launched by Hoffman Construction. This larger space features everything from couches and arcade games to posters with mental health resources. A sign reading “SELF-MEDICATING PUTS US ALL IN DANGER” hangs prominently inside.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, construction workers experience some of the highest rates of suicide and drug overdose of any profession. For Hoffman Construction Vice President Dave Garske, the statistics hit home. In January 2022, his brother Greg — a longtime superintendent — died by suicide, one of three employees the company lost that year.

“We talked for hours, only to find out other people were struggling and looking for a place to talk,” Garske said of a meeting he hosted just days after Greg’s death. “I think God put me in a position to not drown in my sorrow but to take that energy and turn it into something positive.”

The tragedy accelerated efforts already underway to build the GUTS and Moment Rooms. With help from subcontractors and employees, the rooms officially opened in August 2022. Furniture, arcade games, and even artwork were donated, transforming the trailers into inviting spaces now widely used by workers throughout the day.

“When guys get together after work, it’s either to go to a bar or go to the GUTS Room,” said Vincent, who is now a project manager. “If you don’t want to drink or do drugs, going to a bar isn’t a good place to be hanging out.”

Vincent knows that firsthand. Nine years sober after a felony drug arrest, he now occasionally leads recovery meetings in the GUTS Room. He’s also leaned heavily on the Moment Room during personal crises — the unexpected death of his father, the fentanyl overdose of his stepdaughter, and his son’s paralysis. Each time, he returned to the space to grieve, gather his thoughts, or simply breathe.

Doug Vanderpool, another project manager, credits the Moment Room with helping him through a critical turning point. In 2022, as his alcohol use escalated and his family life unraveled, he started using the room for virtual therapy sessions and phone calls with his wife. “Through therapy, through church, and through my wife’s constant support and affirmations,” Vanderpool said, “now, he is sober and his anxiety is under control.”

Industry experts say construction’s high stress and transient nature contribute to its mental health crisis. “There’s a rugged culture of individualism,” explained Dwight Holton, CEO of the Portland-based nonprofit Lines for Life. “You don’t have the work and economic stability that comes from another model of job.”

Despite the challenges, Hoffman’s mental health initiative is making an impression. When over a dozen workers were asked whether they’d seen anything like the GUTS or Moment Rooms at other companies, none had.

Now, the rooms are featured at seven Hoffman worksites, including the ongoing Portland International Airport renovation. At one safety meeting there in 2023, CEO David Drinkward addressed more than 900 workers about the available mental health spaces. “We created these spaces for you because we care about your mental health. We want you to use them,” he said. Holton, who was present, said the moment was powerful: “Thinking about it gives me goosebumps,” he said. “That kind of commitment and open embrace and that importance on mental health is completely cutting edge.”

Last summer, when a 33-year-old ironworker died in a forklift accident at a different job site, news of the tragedy spread quickly to the team in Salem. “We know our job is dangerous and any moment it could be your last,” said Vincent. “I am certain that day, the Moment Room got a lot of use.”

Originally reported by Oregon Live.