Mills Building and Training Association is a non-profit organization that employs young adults who are, or were previously, in the foster care system, group homes, or adoptive relatives. has established a non-profit organization which employs young adults aged 15 to 21 years old who are currently, or were previously, in foster care, group homes, relative, and non-relative placements. We train and
educate these individuals on important life skills and trades that they might not otherwise have an opportunity to engage in. We also hire experienced professionals who specialize in specific skillsets. Thee professionals are engaged in teaching and train these young adults in the specifics of various tradework. Tradework taught includes, but is not limited to, electrical work, concrete work, masonry, stucco, framing, trim work, drywall, painting, air conditioning, installing windows, desk work, autobody, mechanic, welding, landscaping, administrative, safety and etc. PROJECT VISION
Mission: To Build a Successful Future through Education, Training, and Community. In our current Foster Care System, goals are short term. The main focus of the system is to return children to their biological parents as soon as possible. Unfortunately, too often, the family unit is broken beyond repair. In a perfect world there would be an abundant supply of adoptive parents to step up and adopt these children to provide a permanent family, forever. The challenge we see is that students who leave the foster care system after high school, need continued guidance, training and education. As a foster parent I see young adults “age out” of foster care without the necessary work skills to finding adequate employment. This is where our vision comes in! Project Vision will provide these young adults the skills they need to thrive in the workplace, as well as in society. Since the majority of these young adults have an incomplete educational background, the key is to combine hands-on, real world training with a clear pathway (plan) to their chosen career. Our projects will vary to include construction, office administration and culinary, just to mention a few. Project Build will give these boys and girls the opportunity to learn and work in the construction industry. Project Manage will focus on office administration and management skills. Project Chef will combine cooking skills with other aspects of the restaurant industry. Here’s an example of how it works. For Project Build, our non-profit organization MBTA, will buy and remodel homes by employing these eligible young adults. These would include 18-21 year olds that are in foster care, group homes, relative, non-relative placements, as well as those from ages 21-25 that have already “aged out” of foster care. These homes will be sold and the money reinvested back into the organization to fund future endeavors. We will hire experienced people in the remodeling field who will teach these young adults a trade such as, but not limited to; electrical work, concrete work, block-work, stucco, framing, roofing, trim work, drywall, painting, finishing drywall, air conditioning and installing windows. Student will be paid minimum wage and learn from experienced professionals. The administration professionals of the organization will be paid a salary based on their experience. Our vision is to develop this organization and open branches in every county to alleviate long distance travel for these individuals to get to work. Also, we hope to connect these young adults with other services they may need such as counseling or drug rehabilitation. Removing barriers is part of the solution. Our long term goal is that these young adults will become ‘forever’ friends of our program and share their experience as mentors with each new group of young adults. Charles Mills, Executive Director
PO Box 343
Mulberry, FL 33860
[email protected]
