BUFFALO, N.Y. — A new project in East Buffalo will aid people in need once completed in Spring 2025.
Before it ever officially opens, it's already helping people, by providing an opportunity for 30-40 people to start a career in construction for free.
Participants will be trained and certified to work in construction. Together, they will build the Build Promise headquarters from the ground up.
Build Promise, Inc.partnered with 716 Ministries to create this opportunity that will set up the people who live nearby with a long-term career that pays well above the minimum wage.
"It will be their building that they built,” said Stuart Harper, President of Build Promise, Inc. “My dream is that we have a big picture in our front foyer of all the east side people that helped build the building. Then maybe one of their relatives comes in and says, ‘Hey that’s my Mom/Dad up there.’”
Harper has spent years trying to revitalize East Buffalo.
He felt creating a project that will help people before it ever opens its doors was a one-of-a-kind opportunity.
“We haven’t even started recruiting yet, and we have a lot of people calling, saying they want to be involved."
This type of certification program could typically cost over $1,000, when costs for workshops, classrooms, and certifications are added up.
For these participants, it will be free of charge, thanks to a $125,000 grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation.
“This is training people to be able to participate in the reinvestment within their own community and to do it in a way that gets them a family sustaining wage,” said Christina Orsi with the John R. Oishei Foundation.
“It's about a 12-week training process, half days, 5 days a week,” Matthew Johnson, Director of Workforce Development, 716 Ministries. “It is intensive, but participants leave with skills that are essential.”
716 Ministries will run the certification program.
The training involves resume workshops, classroom instruction, organized transportation, and several weeks of paid hands-on training at $15 an hour.
Once participants complete the program and are hired by a construction company, they have the potential of making even more than that hourly wage.
“I’d love to see the participants that graduate from the program get into the careers of their choosing,” Johnson said.
The building estimates to be open for residents in the Spring of 2025.
