ROSELAND — A program that enlists teens to help fix up abandoned homes in Roseland has not only helped improve the neighborhood but it has inspired students to learn new skills and stay off the streets.
“It’s good because if I wasn’t working here, I probably would have sat in the house the whole summer or just chilled on the block with my friends,” said 16-year-old Nathan Smith.
The Auburn Gresham resident and Simeon student said that he has enjoyed working with his hands ever since he was a boy helping his father around the house.
Thirty teen participants took part in a new trades summer program, which has helped them gain vocational skills while improving the Roseland community, said program creator Aaron Mallory. The goal is to improve neighborhoods one block at a time by rehabbing abandoned homes. They also learn about real estate and how to buy, fix up and sell homes for profit.
Rha'me Woods is a teen participant in a new After School Matters program that teaches teens how to rehab homes. (DNAinfo/Andrea V. Watson)
The 28-year-old Roseland resident is the founder of nonprofit God Restoring Order (GRO), which he created the program through After School Matters, which funds it. He and his small team have been working closely with a group of high school students from schools including Simeon, Morgan Park and the Noble charter schools.
Over the weekend, they celebrated the completion of their first home near 109th Street and Wentworth with friends and family. The eager and proud participants led small tours throughout the two-story home, pointing out their contribution. They did the demolition, put up insulation and drywall, painted and put in tile, among other tasks.
Single parent Sherece Slonn of Roseland said the program offers male mentoring for her 16-year-old son, Jordan Harris.
He has always been a creative person, loving to cook and work with his hands. The program has taught him how to balance the two, she said.
Nathan said that even though the real work experience could be exhausting at times, he still had fun.
“I love working with my hands,” he said.
He said he likes the program because he’s tired of seeing abandoned homes on the South Side.
“The less homes that are vacant, the more your property is worth, so this is good,” Nathan said.
For 15-year-old Anthony Adams, the experience has also been a good one.
“I just wanted to have something to do for the summer,” he said. “I knew I didn’t have anything to do so I am proud to work for Mr. Aaron.”
He learned how to put tile on the floor and paint.
“So far this has been a good thing,” Anthony said.
State Rep. Will Davis (D-Hazel Crest) called the finished work “fantastic” and said he wanted to see firsthand the work the teens have completed. He said he would like to see the state continue to fund After School Matters programs because they can make a difference in students' lives and deter them from the streets.
Project 5000, which aims to help first-time home buyers with bad credit purchase homes, helped the organization get the home the teens worked on, said youth coordinator Revin Fellows.
“Our role is to get these young men [involved] and to kill the violence with a job and entrepreneurship,” he said.
Mallory said that the program will start up again in the fall.
To register for the "youth and trades" program, students can visit After School Matters online or call 312-742-4182.
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