It's called a "Pathway from Poverty to Success." A program at the Social Development Commission is helping inner city Milwaukee residents get jobs.
Construction is flourishing in Milwaukee. The new 500 million dollar Milwaukee Bucks arena and the new 450 million dollar Northwestern Mutual building downtown will need skilled workers.
The "Absolute Advantage" program at the Social Development Commission offers training for construction based jobs.
CEO George Hinton explains, "it's a combination of real skill and what we call career enhancement training."
In the program, students will learn a host of construction skills from carpentry to heavy equipment operation. Students must be committed. But when they are done, they will hold national certification.
Hinton warns, "this is not a program where we're going to give you something, this is a program where you’re going to have to come and get it get done with."
The curriculum includes 100 hours of training in 16 weeks, and students must attend every class.
Hinton explains, "it's three times a week where they are in the classroom going over material, but they're also working with tools." When complete students will have skills to help build their future.
