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Kameron Walker, a Building Pathways participant, was able to purchase a new car through his work with the nonprofit. (Courtesy photo | Building Pathways)<\/p>\nKameron Walker and Jakaris Washington, working in the dusty halls of a Crowley elementary school over the summer, are learning skills that will help them in the construction industry.<\/p>\n
Their job training is at Crowley ISD\u2019s Deer Creek Elementary, where workers spent weeks renovating the campus and making plumbing improvements. In early June, campus restrooms were still filled with mounds of dirt as workers installed new pipes beneath the school\u2019s foundation.<\/p>\n
The clock ticked as workers scrambled to finish the renovations before the start of the school year \u2014 Aug. 12.<\/p>\n
Walker and Washington are involved in the Building Pathways Inc. program to teach high school students and young adults, ages 16 to 24, about the construction industry. The nonprofit\u2019s program targets at-risk people \u201cdisconnected from education and employment\u201d to improve their lives through construction careers. Many face systemic barriers, including poverty, housing instability and prior involvement with the foster care or juvenile justice systems, officials said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m learning every trade,\u201d Walker, a former St. Louis resident now living in Fort Worth, said as he and Washington took a wooden cover off a school window. \u201cI\u2019m learning about demoing, electrical, concrete and glazing. It\u2019s really good. Everybody is helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kameron Walker, a Building Pathways participant, was able to purchase a new car through his work with the nonprofit. (Courtesy photo | Building Pathways)<\/p>\n
His participation in the program has enabled him to buy a new car.<\/p>\n
Washington, also a Fort Worth resident, said he is learning about plumbing through the nonprofit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still learning, but I ask questions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Louie T. McClain II, a former American Airlines flight standards trainer who is now executive director of Building Pathways, said the nonprofit\u2019s goal is \u201cto transform lives and communities by creating opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m major on that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about creating opportunities to educate, engage, empower and retain employees in this construction industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Building Pathways, he said, aspires \u201cto be a beacon of hope\u201d for at-risk youth and adults.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pathway culture job is so pivotal to that because imagine we are going to put a kid on a job site. He doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s up against mentally on the job site,\u201d McClain said. \u201cThat personal development. \u2026 That plays a pivotal role.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nonprofit was founded by Jeffrey Postell Jr., president and chairman of the board of Post L Group, a North Texas construction firm. Postell, who started as a laborer in the construction industry, also serves as chairman of Building Pathways.<\/p>\n
The 12-month program consists of four steps as participants learn about the construction industry. First, participants establish trust and accountability as Building Pathways coaches determine the level of support needed to ensure their success, whether it\u2019s giving workers a ride to a construction site or helping them to stay punctual.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Participants, who earn $20 an hour, then work with coaches and staff to develop a career plan in a chosen trade. The third part of the program focuses on developing their plan through apprentice job training in a particular field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The program ends with a graduation ceremony. Participants will be placed in an apprentice position and receive more training, either with a particular company or a related job training program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McClain said the nonprofit\u2019s services have helped more than 135 community members in Tarrant County over the past two years.<\/p>\n
Christian Hicks was selected as a Building Pathways coach because of his \u201cshining star\u201d performance in the first adult cohort, McClain said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe showed immense leadership and supervisory skills to motivate his peers,\u201d McClain said. \u201cHe stood out so much that he got elevated to be the next coach. He\u2019s doing a great job with our adult cohort and our summer youth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hicks described his cohort experience in a few words: \u201cIt was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t like it at first,\u201d McClain said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Getting participants acclimated to the construction industry takes time and energy, Hicks said. He works to keep the students focused and motivated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the experience of construction; everybody thinks it\u2019s so rough and everything,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got your good days. Like every job, you\u2019ve got a supervisor you probably do and don\u2019t like. (The program) is to show them how to get by, not just with your work day but with your daily activity of life. Some probably have trouble at home, so we work on how to stay focused at work so you can be safe while you\u2019re working.\u201d<\/p>\n
Program participants often start as laborers so they focus on basic work skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s pick up trash, let\u2019s sweep up floors because, believe it or not, there are some basic life skills some youths and some adults do not know,\u201d Hicks said.<\/p>\n
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Louie T. McClain II is the executive director of Building Pathways, a nonprofit that helps develop construction industry workers. (Courtesy photos | Building Pathways)<\/p>\n
McClain emphasizes to the students the earning potential of construction jobs. He said he worked for 11 years at American Airlines before his salary topped out at $74,000.<\/p>\n
Workers in the construction industry can earn a substantial salary if they apply themselves, he added. It is possible to make $50,000 or more early in their career.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t know that they can enter into this industry and surpass where I was at in a matter of three to four years,\u201d McClain said. \u201cThey don\u2019t understand that they can get skilled with their hands and they can take this skill all around the country, all around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
McClain said the construction industry can be tough, especially in certain weather conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome are like, there\u2019s no way \u2014 rain, hail, sleet or snow \u2014 I\u2019m going to be out there doing that indefinitely,\u201d McClain said. \u201cIt\u2019s not indefinite. After two to four years, you\u2019re literally at a great wage and you can bring yourself inside the (construction) trailer and quarterback it from there \u2014 project engineer or project manager. So many of the people that we\u2019re aspiring to reach, that we are reaching, they did not know this about construction at all. So we\u2019re continuously shining a light.\u201d<\/p>\n
A crop of participants graduated from the program Aug. 1 with a ceremony at the Center for Transforming Lives, 3001 S. Riverside Drive in east Fort Worth.<\/p>\n
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Shanna S. Salda\u00f1a, Building Pathways vice president of operations, is an advocate of the nonprofit\u2019s program to help youth train for construction industry jobs. (Courtesy photo | Building Pathways)<\/p>\n
Shanna S. Salda\u00f1a, Building Pathways vice president of operations, said she got involved in the nonprofit because she wanted to teach program participants that they can have a career without necessarily going to college.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the reason I got involved,\u201d Salda\u00f1a said. \u201cWe failed in our schools to teach kids that their only measure of success is a four-year degree. That\u2019s just not true. You can have a very successful career. It\u2019s not a job, it is a career. That you can support your family and be very proud of what you\u2019re doing in the trades.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is something I\u2019m very passionate about, just making sure people understand the opportunities that are available to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n News decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
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