Bay Area non-profit helps teens, young adults find clear path to career

TAMPA, Fla. - Graduating high school with no clear direction can be overwhelming, but there's a Tampa Bay area non-profit helping teens and young adults find a path.  

Kordell Allen is excited about his job at Innovation Cabinetry. 

"Working here," said Allen. "It's been amazing. It showed me a lot, like different stuff that I didn't know. Different tools, different people. So that's great." 

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Allen got the opportunity thanks to Rebuild Tampa. 

"I was just graduating out of high school coming into the summer, and a friend of mine turned me into a place called Rebuild Tampa," he said. "It was a good program. And then they found me this job." 

They provide job training skills and paid internships for teens and young adults. 

"We meet two needs by identifying students to work for these companies and then providing the students with meaningful employment and life skills training," Kevin Miller with Rebuild Tampa said. 

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The hands-on approach is having some great success. 

"The first year we started, about 12 students that we started. With the second year we had about 20 students, 25 students," said Miller. "Last year, we went to about 15 and we're looking to hire and place about 20 again this summer." 

The summer program lasts eight weeks and the students make $15 an hour. The hope is to get hired full-time once the internship is over. 

"So often people give up on them, but they are one of the most exciting generations I've worked with, and their passion for other people is something that I think we can all learn from them," said Russell Johnson with Rebuild Tampa.  

For employers like Innovation Cabinetry, it's a win-win. 

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"It's great to have the great talent added to our company to help support our growth," said Tom Arent, the vice president of sales, marketing and operations for Innovation Cabinetry. "But, it's also about transforming lives, and we love to transform the lives of young people in our community and give them those opportunities not just for a job, but have a great career ahead of them." 

For Allen, it has already changed his life in a big way. After riding his bike to work for a year, he was able to save enough money and buy a car. 

"I felt great. It was life changing," he said. "Like just riding down the street in a car, like the same route I rode with a bike. It was like a mind-blowing." 

Rebuild Tampa is opening doors to help individuals find not just a job, but a career. The program will begin again this summer. For more information, visit rebuildtampa.org.

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