On August 22, the Unity in the Community Carpentry Academy held a graduation dinner and ceremony at the NoMo Foundation. The program, started by South Philly activist Anton Moore in 2021, is an education program that gives teens the skills and knowledge to go into business for themselves or join the cities building trade unions, while keeping them off the streets and out of risk of danger and gun violence.
Ryan Boyer, General Manager of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, was also at the event and invited the graduates to apply to join Philadelphia’s building trades unions.
From The Philadelphia Inquirer:
In addition to teaching participants hands-on skills, the Carpentry Academy also provided mentoring by men such as [program instructor George] Palmer, who rose from his seat at a table where he had been eating and literally wept as the graduates stepped forward to be recognized. “I’m crying because I’m so happy. I love them just like my sons,” he said. “They can do Sheetrock, floors, doors, light electrical. They put up ceiling fans. They did outlets and light plumbing, too.”
At a time when so much is going wrong in Philadelphia, it felt good to celebrate young men doing the right thing. They not only figuratively but literally got their flowers that night — each young man was presented with a bouquet.
Photo Credit: Tom Gralish for the Philadelphia Inquirer
