Thanks to a $62,500 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, the Steel Yard in Providence is offering intensive welding classes to 30 young adults with low incomes this year, with the hope of more classes next year, and seeks business partners to take on welding novices as paid interns.
The Steel Yard has offered work force development courses in the past, but what is different with this year’s program – Weld to Work – is the size of the grant, according to Drake Patten, director and chief financial officer for the nonprofit, industrial-arts center on Sims Avenue.
In the past, the Steel Yard usually won smaller grants for one-week training sessions, she said. This latest Bank of America gift finances three three-week sessions, with 10 young men and women in each session for a total of 30 trainees. The youths targeted for assistance are 18- to 24-year-olds who meet federal poverty guidelines.
“This is the most intensive program we’ve been able to do in a while,” she said. The first session began Sept. 21 and the final session ends Dec. 7.
At the same time, however, the group is not too large to handle effectively. The Steel Yard limits its classes to 10 students, a restriction set after years of experience, Patten said. “We’ve been asked to train more at one time, but we are not a factory. We are adamant about this. We won’t train more than 10 in any one group.”
The limit allows the Steel Yard to devote more time to each student than a traditional class might, she suggested. That is important because “we’re talking about a population that often has been given up on and doesn’t always have support networks,” Patten said. “We hold them to a high standard of excellence.”
Travis Williams, 22, who lives in South Providence, took the welding program earlier this fall. He is a 2008 graduate of the William B. Cooley Sr. Health and Science Technical Academy, a four-year secondary school on Thurbers Avenue. Williams found Weld to Work an excellent opportunity he said he is glad he had the chance to pursue.
“There are not many places where you can get a start” on learning new skills “where they don’t charge you anything,” he said.
Williams told Providence Business News he made bicycle racks, fences and even learned a bit about blacksmithing. “I like working with my hands,” he said, and hopes to become an auto mechanic. Meanwhile, he said he’s certain his Steel Yard experience will look good on his resume and impress potential employers.
Upon completion of the program, students receive a $650 stipend and a Steel Yard certificate that Patten said is becoming “increasingly recognized” but does not signify formal certification in the trade.
Weld to Work students are rebuilding decorative fence panels for the long-neglected façade of the William D’abate Elementary School on Kossuth Street, a project undertaken with Olneyville Housing Corp., Providence City Council, community members and local contactors. The fence panels students are making represent themes of the natural world, community service and lifelong learning, and are scheduled for installation in the spring.
Demand for this type of program is strong. Patten said the Steel Yard had to close applications because so many came in for just the 30 slots available in Weld to Work, so she and her staff already are working on a similar program for 2012. “There absolutely will be more programs like this,” she said. “I already have some funds lined up for next year.”
Patten is searching for local employers willing to take welding trainees “to the next level” by hiring them as paid interns. The Steel Yard has some internship opportunities in place but, Patten said, “ideally” the center would like to have a stable of business partners it could turn to on a regular basis to place interns.
The grant provides some good public relations for the bank, which recently endured public criticism for proposing a monthly fee on debit cards (an idea that has since been shelved).
“The Steel Yard grant is the latest example of Bank of America’s commitment to organizations making a real difference in Rhode Island,” said T.J. Crawford, Bank of America spokesman.
“While the bank has its critics, we have a lot to be proud of in Rhode Island,” Crawford said. “This includes lending $133 million to local small businesses in the first half of 2011 and modifying about 3,800 loans since 2008 for Rhode Islanders facing financial difficulties.” •
