[upbeat music]
Operation Fresh Start provides opportunities
for young adults to build skills, pursue education,
and work with mentors in the Dane County area.
Executive Director Greg Markle is helping the group
rehab a home in Oregon.
- Our mission is to provide disconnected youth
a path to self-sufficiency.
So, it's helping young people achieve
a high school diploma, a driver's license,
and move on to
a career where they can take care of themselves,
and hopefully, a family someday. - Very nice.
Are there certain career paths
that they are getting some experience with?
- Yeah, so part of our biggest program, called Legacy,
is they're actually doing work in the community,
building affordable housing or doing major conservation work
on Dane County or City of Madison parks.
- It's great that they get that hands-on experience, though.
- Yes, and they get that experience of being successful
and building something which is going to be there
and doing something which helps the communities.
We actually are building this
in partnership with an organization called
Wisconsin Partnership for Affordable Housing.
It will go to a family
who needs affordable housing in the end.
And we're doing all the construction,
so we're gutting the place out,
rebuilding walls, having some folks come in
to do some electrical work,
and in the end, it'll be a nice house for a family.
[upbeat music]
- Angela: Katherine Kamp, the executive director
of the Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development
knows how important this work is.
- This has been about 10-year relationship.
I think it's one of those perfect collaborations
between non-profit organizations.
We wanna promote access to affordable housing.
Part of that is making sure
that we have enough construction workers
in the future to be able to do that work
because that's part of what keeps housing affordable.
- And so, what is the most, I guess,
enjoyable or gratifying part
of seeing a project to fruition?
- Katherine: I love to see the kids at work,
learning how to do things.
And the pride that they have
in the work that they've done is pretty phenomenal.
- Angela: A pride that shows in the efforts
of these young men and women.
Are there other programs for students who maybe
aren't leaning toward building homes?
- Yeah, so the young people get some experience on that
where they learn some hard skills,
but really the soft skills of employability.
And then, we help them move into whatever direction
that the young person may want to go.
A lot of our young people actually end up
going into the healthcare field.
Yeah, after doing siding when it's 20 degrees out, [Angela laughs]
a nice job in a hospital sounds pretty good.
- Like, this may not be the life for me.
Let me try something else. - Exactly.
So, we help them figure that out through some counseling
and sort of some interest surveys.
And then we help them move in whatever direction they want to,
as far as their career.
- Angela: From building trades to life skills,
Operation Fresh Start is making its mark on the community.
- The impact on the youth is huge.
A young person coming to us generally hasn't had
a lot of success recently in their life.
And may be thought of from the community
as someone who can't have success.
What we see is them turn it around
and understand that they can be successful
and that they can build things
and that they can build their life
and build a good future for themselves.
[upbeat music]
[people laughing]