Out of School Youth: Impact Stories
We asked our youth how our program has changed their lives and this is what they had to say...
"Growing up I struggled in school and with knowing what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. After graduating from High School, I went through various phases of wanting to work hard and wanting to chill at home all day. Being great at swimming in High School, I figured I would become a lifeguard that way I can have the best of both worlds, working part time in the summer and hanging out at home during the winter months. I quickly realized that was not the greatest plan as the pool I was a lifeguard at closed and now I was out of a job and no clue with what I wanted to do. I sat around the house sleeping in until 1 or 2PM most days realizing that I will be just like my dad and work at a grocery store for the rest of my life and that is all I would be good at.
On October 3rd 2019, I was sitting around on the couch watching TV with my sister, complaining that I wanted this glorious high paying job but did not know where to start. My grandpa walks into the room and tells me to get up and let’s go. At the time, I was thinking that we were going to get lunch or go to the grocery store. I get into the car and we begin driving. My grandpa starts asking me what type of job I wanted, and I keep telling him that I didn’t know, and that I wanted something that I would live comfortable with and be able to buy things for myself and not have others depend on me. About 20 minutes later we arrive at the Sacramento Career Center, and my grandpa says you’re going to get off the couch and get moving starting right now. I walked into the career center not knowing what I wanted or even if I really wanted to work.
Right as I walked in, I was greeted by James Hill. He explained that he is the Case Manager of the Out of School Youth Program for North State Building Industry Foundation. He explained what the details of the program and what I needed to do to enroll. He made my stress levels go down and he walked me through each step from the application, to what types of jobs are available and how I can grow that job into a career. He even helped me turn my ugly looking resume into a beautiful professional document that I could be proud of. He explained the details of the workshops each week.
I was excited and happy that James didn’t force me into something I wasn’t happy in. I was excited that I could come to these workshops and grow myself into a professional working adult. During one of the workshops La Vonnia came in and started explaining about this Volunteer Opportunity to help provide a smile on a family face and build a bed for them when they didn’t have a bed to begin with. I was instantly hooked and the first person to raise my hand to volunteer. The day came to volunteer and I was sure to get a well-rested night’s sleep. I started to psych myself out thinking that I would arrive and we would just drop off the beds and leave. I arrived and we began to build this wonderful beds and it was amazing. It was amazing to be apart of a team that had passion in what they were doing, and once we finished building seeing the look in the family’s eyes made me feel that I made a lasting impression in this family’s eyes. I will never forget that look and I will always look back on that day as one of the greatest and most special days in my life. I left after finishing that so happy and excited that I told my family and everyone I knew why I was so grateful for that opportunity to make a lasting impression in that families lives.
After a few months of coming to workshops each week and enjoying what I was learning, James came up to me and ask if I would like to go to a job fair in Auburn that was hiring. At first I was hesitant as I wasn’t sure if I was ready for work. James explained why I was ready and helped me realized that I was only getting in my own head. James took me to the job fair in Auburn for a company called Air International Thermal Systems, which makes HVAC parts for electric cars like Tesla’s and others. I walked into the waiting room and grabbed application materials to fill out. I sat at a table and talked to James and explained to him that I was nervous and he told me to not stress about it and go into the interview with passion and confidence and no matter the outcome to be proud of yourself for having the courage to do something a lot of people would not want to do. It made me realize that I should only worry about my outcome and no one else, that I am going to go in the room with my head up and with confidence. While waiting for my name to be called into the room, I saw people coming out smiling and others with a defeated look in their eyes. I kept reminding myself to not worry about them. The time came for my name being called and James wished me good luck and I walked into the interview room. I laid it all out and explained why I was a good fit and what qualities I would bring to the company. I was in the room for about 20 minutes and I came out feeling that I did a good job. I talked to James about how it went and he said he was proud of me that I gain the courage and strength to come up here and interview.
Around 3 days go by and I receive a call from the lady I interviewed with and she told me that I was hired and that I would be emailed the paperwork. I got the paperwork a few hours later, and I filled it out and sent it back that same night. I was nervous of my first day but James told me that I should go up to my future worksite and look around and get a feel for the drive and where it would be located at. I did the next day and it put me at ease and it was a peaceful drive and easy to get to. I started work two weeks later. When I started, I found out that myself and one other person got hired out of the 75 people that were there the day of the interview. I was happy that I left that great of an impression on them to hire me and remember me out of everyone there.
I was assigned my work stationed and got training. I was being trained for about 3 days when my trainer said that I was excelling enough to be on my own. Fast forward to from February when I started to April. I was promoted to Line Supervisor and given a raise and my own team to supervisor. When I got promoted all I could think was how thankful I am to James and La Vonnia and the Out of School Youth Program for believing in me to become successful and make a change for the better. Jumping to today 11/10/2020 I have finally saved up enough money to buy my first car and pay for Construction Inspector School in Anaheim which I was accepted to last week. The 2-month course will begin in January and I now know what I want to do and that is to be a Construction Inspector." - Recent OSY Graduate
On October 3rd 2019, I was sitting around on the couch watching TV with my sister, complaining that I wanted this glorious high paying job but did not know where to start. My grandpa walks into the room and tells me to get up and let’s go. At the time, I was thinking that we were going to get lunch or go to the grocery store. I get into the car and we begin driving. My grandpa starts asking me what type of job I wanted, and I keep telling him that I didn’t know, and that I wanted something that I would live comfortable with and be able to buy things for myself and not have others depend on me. About 20 minutes later we arrive at the Sacramento Career Center, and my grandpa says you’re going to get off the couch and get moving starting right now. I walked into the career center not knowing what I wanted or even if I really wanted to work.
Right as I walked in, I was greeted by James Hill. He explained that he is the Case Manager of the Out of School Youth Program for North State Building Industry Foundation. He explained what the details of the program and what I needed to do to enroll. He made my stress levels go down and he walked me through each step from the application, to what types of jobs are available and how I can grow that job into a career. He even helped me turn my ugly looking resume into a beautiful professional document that I could be proud of. He explained the details of the workshops each week.
I was excited and happy that James didn’t force me into something I wasn’t happy in. I was excited that I could come to these workshops and grow myself into a professional working adult. During one of the workshops La Vonnia came in and started explaining about this Volunteer Opportunity to help provide a smile on a family face and build a bed for them when they didn’t have a bed to begin with. I was instantly hooked and the first person to raise my hand to volunteer. The day came to volunteer and I was sure to get a well-rested night’s sleep. I started to psych myself out thinking that I would arrive and we would just drop off the beds and leave. I arrived and we began to build this wonderful beds and it was amazing. It was amazing to be apart of a team that had passion in what they were doing, and once we finished building seeing the look in the family’s eyes made me feel that I made a lasting impression in this family’s eyes. I will never forget that look and I will always look back on that day as one of the greatest and most special days in my life. I left after finishing that so happy and excited that I told my family and everyone I knew why I was so grateful for that opportunity to make a lasting impression in that families lives.
After a few months of coming to workshops each week and enjoying what I was learning, James came up to me and ask if I would like to go to a job fair in Auburn that was hiring. At first I was hesitant as I wasn’t sure if I was ready for work. James explained why I was ready and helped me realized that I was only getting in my own head. James took me to the job fair in Auburn for a company called Air International Thermal Systems, which makes HVAC parts for electric cars like Tesla’s and others. I walked into the waiting room and grabbed application materials to fill out. I sat at a table and talked to James and explained to him that I was nervous and he told me to not stress about it and go into the interview with passion and confidence and no matter the outcome to be proud of yourself for having the courage to do something a lot of people would not want to do. It made me realize that I should only worry about my outcome and no one else, that I am going to go in the room with my head up and with confidence. While waiting for my name to be called into the room, I saw people coming out smiling and others with a defeated look in their eyes. I kept reminding myself to not worry about them. The time came for my name being called and James wished me good luck and I walked into the interview room. I laid it all out and explained why I was a good fit and what qualities I would bring to the company. I was in the room for about 20 minutes and I came out feeling that I did a good job. I talked to James about how it went and he said he was proud of me that I gain the courage and strength to come up here and interview.
Around 3 days go by and I receive a call from the lady I interviewed with and she told me that I was hired and that I would be emailed the paperwork. I got the paperwork a few hours later, and I filled it out and sent it back that same night. I was nervous of my first day but James told me that I should go up to my future worksite and look around and get a feel for the drive and where it would be located at. I did the next day and it put me at ease and it was a peaceful drive and easy to get to. I started work two weeks later. When I started, I found out that myself and one other person got hired out of the 75 people that were there the day of the interview. I was happy that I left that great of an impression on them to hire me and remember me out of everyone there.
I was assigned my work stationed and got training. I was being trained for about 3 days when my trainer said that I was excelling enough to be on my own. Fast forward to from February when I started to April. I was promoted to Line Supervisor and given a raise and my own team to supervisor. When I got promoted all I could think was how thankful I am to James and La Vonnia and the Out of School Youth Program for believing in me to become successful and make a change for the better. Jumping to today 11/10/2020 I have finally saved up enough money to buy my first car and pay for Construction Inspector School in Anaheim which I was accepted to last week. The 2-month course will begin in January and I now know what I want to do and that is to be a Construction Inspector." - Recent OSY Graduate
"Both my parents were alcoholics and had trouble keeping their jobs. My dad was a part of the Hell's Angels and did construction when he wasn't taking drugs across state lines. By 3rd grade, my parents were separated and we were evicted from our apartment and I would soon be bouncing around different foster homes. When I got to middle school, I was expelled and sent to juvenile hall for fighting, doing drugs and bringing weapons to school. By the end of freshman year, I'd been expelled from 6 different schools when I decided to leave my hometown and live with a distant half-brother. While living with him, I got involved with gangs and started selling drugs and engaging in this difficult behavior until I turned 18. I was still experiencing barriers and trying to make quick cash by selling drugs when I was caught and sent to jail. After being released, my social worker told me about the North State Building Industry Foundation's program and I reluctantly joined. Looking back, I can't be more grateful for such a program. After training weekly in work-readiness skills and learning the values of a good employee, the program has helped me find a job to further my skillset and experience. I'm excited to have a means to learn how to professionally weld and paint amongst other valuable workmanship skills. The security these skills will bring to me are so much more valuable than any amount of money that I made selling drugs. The North State Building Industry Foundation has given me the opportunity to leave the repetitive, harmful life I used to embrace. I can now embrace the security of knowing I never have to put my freedom in danger again, all because I am obtaining invaluable knowledge. Thank you North State Building Industry Foundation for giving me the tools to succeed."
