WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — Building up people by helping them learn to build. That is the goal of The Do School.
The Piedmont Triad is growing fast with projects such as Toyota in Greensboro, Boom at PTI International Airport, and John Deere in Forsyth County. That means there is a need for builders to not only construct these future workplaces but to also build the homes where all those workers will one day live. The Do School is ready to make an impact by teaching people construction skills while giving them a fresh start in life.
“Our goal was to impact the number of people that are just very difficult to employ,” says Jerry Anderson, the Executive Director of The Do School. Because construction needs competent help to keep up with the building demand, he says “it was very easy for us to decide that that would be the lane that we worked in and then partner with construction companies here in the Triad area to help us.”
Anderson says the nonprofit trains students for 20 to 30 weeks with students learning every aspect of construction from framing and roofing to plumbing and drywalling, but The Do School takes a holistic approach to this training, teaching those in the program not only trade skills but other life and job skills as well. Site Supervisor Jake Morgan says that includes “how to give an elevated speech, how to introduce themselves with confidence so when they go to an interview, they’re able to say ‘this is what I know. This is what I bring to the table’ and sell themselves.”
Morgan is also a pastor with a love of building and teaching others. He helps the students get their hands-on experience renovating homes like one in the Boston Thurmond neighborhood of Winston-Salem, and with his guidance, The Do School will be able to teach a lot more people along with help from the Winston-Salem Foundation. It recently provided a $55,000 grant to the Do School, and the Black Philanthropy Initiative added another $15,000 grant.
To find out more about The Do School, visit their website.
