By Ariyana Griffin
Contributing Writer
WATTS — Thirty-three high school-aged students from Jordan Downs and Evermont communities graduated from an intensive five-week paid construction and welding program July 17.
The Building Bridges program is sponsored by Harbor Freight’s Tools for Schools, BRIDGE Housing and a local nonprofit, Watts Believe, as an initiative of the $1-billion redevelopment effort of Jordan Downs Housing Project.
Jordan Downs was originally built in the 1940s to be used as housing for war workers during World War II. By the 1950s, the Housing Authority of the city of Los Angeles transitioned the property to public housing. In 2013, BRIDGE Housing and the Michaels Organization were selected to redevelop Jordan Downs to provide better building structures and more opportunities for the community through mixed-land use and development.
Students gained transferable and valuable skills in the construction industry, all while earning money while they learned. Throughout the five weeks, the group was split into two groups and spent two and a half weeks learning one trade and then swapping to ensure they gained experience in both construction and welding.
“Instead of sleeping in or hanging out with your friends, each of you decided to dedicate your summer to a very intensive hands-on training program, learning welding or construction,” said Belen Vargas, senior director of L.A. County Programs for Harbor Freight Tools for Schools.
“This program is part of the L.A. County Skilled Trade Centers, an earn and learn initiative … launched by Harbor Freight Tools for Schools to help students discover careers that they may have never considered. Equipping you before you graduate high school and go off into the world with the technical and durable skills that will serve you for a lifetime,” Vargas told the graduates.
The goal of the program is to provide the next generation with the skills, resources, and knowledge to uphold the construction needs in Los Angeles. The demand for construction jobs is higher than the supply of employees due to massive projects the city is set to complete, such as rebuilding homes after the wildfires, preparing for the 2028 Olympics, and repairing schools and bridges across the county.
Sherika Simms, co-founder of the nonprofit Watts Believe, said the opportunity is important to the Watts community and the youth.
“Due to all the gang violence and the gentrification around here, why not?” she said. “Why not give these kids a chance to show the world what they are capable of?”
Simms said that it takes a village to support the youth, and she is proud to be a part of that for the students she works with. This year marks her third year participating with the initiative. For the students who are interested in taking the construction and welding career path seriously, she expressed that she will have their back.
“We’re gonna have their back, not 100% but 1,000%, meaning if they are serious about that, we’re gonna push them,” Simms said. “They need transportation, we’re gonna provide that. They need their uniform, we’re gonna provide that. But the main thing is supporting them through their new adventures.
Geovanie Diaz, a ninth grader, shared that while he was nervous to join the program, he was happy he did. He gained experience welding metal and building a shed.
He shared that the opportunity opened his mind up to a new career path,
“I’m actually thinking about working as a welder or a construction worker,” he said.
Out of the 33 students, three were brothers who motivated each other to join and continue through the program.
“They did a promising job,” said Michael Goss, their father. “They came and said they were gonna do something; they came and did it. Them learning new experiences, hands-on, hands-off, learning new things, learning how to use hammers, welding. It was exceptional.
Their mother, Jasmine Goss, said she enjoyed watching her sons grow and develop new skills. “I got to see the growth. It was wonderful to see the wheels turning in their head.”
Michael Goss III said the program challenged him, but he pushed to overcome it.
“Building things was the hardest part, but I worked on it,” he said. “I got past it. It was a few hard challenges, but I did enjoy it.”
The program operates year-round with 120 students selected out of a pool of more than 300. The July 17 graduation was the first of the year. Students have the opportunity to come back and gain more experience as alumni.
Ariyana Griffin is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers.
