Program empowering underserved Central Ohio community celebrates graduates

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — A program that is helping Central Ohio's underserved community build toward a better tomorrow celebrated its graduates Wednesday.

The program is called Building Futures. For some, it's a second chance and a fresh start to create a better life for their families.

On Wednesday, the program graduated 25 people including Jason Devlin. Devlin is a dad to four young kids with big dreams of making their lives better than his was.

"I have three boys and a girl," he said. "They are my world. I want to create generational wealth for my kids."

I just had this dream. I wanted to create generational wealth for my kids.

"Don’t get me wrong; my parents did the best they could," Devlin said. "But as far as setting up things, or if I said, 'Hey, I want to go to college,' I really couldn’t do that. I want things to be different for my kids and I tell them that. I say, 'Daddy’s doing this for you so when you grow up everything will be lined up for you.'"

Building Futures is a 12-week training program that equips members of underserved communities with the basic construction skills they need for a building trades apprenticeship. Students also undergo communication and financial literacy training.

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"We want to put people in a position where they can earn a living and take care of their family, have health benefits and eventually retire with dignity," Creating Central Ohio Futures CEO Leland Bass said.

After graduating, participants are placed into an apprenticeship program with a local union.

"More than half the class is already working," said Dorsey Hager, the executive treasurer of the Columbus-Central Ohio Building Trades Council. "The electricians took half of the class already to help with the solar boom. Whoever is not placed right after graduation should be placed and on a job site over the next two to three weeks."

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As development in Central Ohio continues to expand, Building Futures also is helping generate more employees for the many construction jobs available.

"The conversation with them is, you can go to Intel, you can go to Facebook, you can go to Google," Dorsey said. "These are huge data centers, these are huge tech sites and chip factories. You can spend a month there or you can spend the next 25 years of your career there."

"We really didn’t see this type of explosive growth," Bass said. "It seems like every day we get a new announcement for a new project."

Building Futures is a partnership between Franklin County and the Columbus-Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council.

Learn more about the program by clicking HERE.