Build A Man camp introduces Black teens to trades, bolsters their confidence and community

By Eva Andersen

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KYW) — Fourteen-year-old Isaiah Clark-White never thought of himself as a plumber, but that changed on Monday when he successfully soldered a copper pipe at a local trades camp for teen boys.

After carefully sealing the pipe, Clark-White tested his work in front of his peers, hoping there would be no leaks.

“We’re testing to see if the pipe would leak because we soldered all of these on,” Clark-White said.

When water flowed through the pipe without a leak, others applauded him for the soldering job.

“It definitely builds confidence because I would never be able to do this right now,” he said.

Clark-White is one of 20 young Black men ages 12 to 17 participating in the Build A Man camp, an eight-week program in Wayne Junction teaching hands-on trades like plumbing, carpentry and electrical work. The camp is designed to equip them with practical skills they can use in their future careers.

“Learning about all the trades — it’s giving me insight to see what I want to do with my life,” Clark-White said.

Union carpenter Zachery Frazier, CEO of the Trust Factor Organization, leads the program. Other professional tradesmen participate and teach the campers financial literacy training to help them market their newfound skills.

Frazier admitted that getting the campers interested at the start of the program in July can be a challenge.

“You really don’t think kids will be interested, but it’s all because they haven’t been introduced,” Frazier said.

But once the campers get tools in their hands, Frazier said, their attitudes change.

“Now that they’re here and they’re engaged, they’re showing me how important a program like this really is,” he said.

For 12-year-old Ian Benson-Mackins, the camp is about more than just learning trades; it’s about helping his family.

“I come from a single mom household, so I’m so used to … me and my mom doing it together. And now I’m learning more and more stuff I can help around — like if she needs something fixed, I can be like, ‘OK, Mom, I can fix this real quick,'” Benson-Mackins said.

He’s even thinking ahead to how the skills he’s learning will save money in the future.

“We’re learning something that we can use for our lifetime, and we won’t have to spend $20,000 on going to school if people don’t have it,” he said.

Frazier said he wants the campers to think about their futures and not give up when things get tough.

“Every day is not going to be a good day. But that does not mean that you give up,” he told the group Monday.

Frazier wants them to know that “building a man” means first building up each other and that their greatest tool is the community they’re forming.

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