Nailing It

Just a few blocks from downtown Wilmington at 617 Castle St. is a shopping destination for fans of woodcrafts and ambitious young people. The venue is the Kids Making It (KMI) gift shop in the neighborhood’s Arts & Antiques District. Here, shoppers will find a selection of crafted cutting boards, shelving units, clocks and more made by local teens in the adjacent 5,000-square-foot KMI workshop, equipped with lathes, band saws, miter saws, table saws, a router table, belt sanders, palm sanders, a dust collection system, industrial laser engravers and a CNC router.

Founded in 1994 by retired attorney and North Carolina native Jimmy Pierce, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit program is now overseen by Executive Director Kevin Blackburn, who, together with a paid staff of 20 (eight full-time and 12 part-time) and about 25 volunteers, serves 950 young people living and attending schools (Snipes Elementary, Rachel Freeman, New Hanover High School and Williston Middle School) within a one-mile radius of KMI. Agencies with which it partners include Elements (youth violence prevention); El Cuerpo (Hispanic ministry); and Coastal Horizons (behavioral health), which makes available an on-premises therapist providing therapeutic support services for teens 20 hours a week.

Its three core programs reach children as young as 7 through adulthood. Outreach is for ages 7 to 12 and includes basic workshops and scheduled events. After-School, for ages 13 to 18, is where students learn woodworking skills, make items for sale and keep 100% of the profits as they learn patience, perseverance and what it takes to be an entrepreneur. A recent special project included working alongside students to design and construct a colorful mobile library cart for El Cuerpo, a Hispanic ministry program. And the Apprentice Program, a continuum for young adults ages 18 to 24, builds upon lessons learned from the Outreach and After-School programs. Skilled apprentices are paid an hourly rate and work to fill large custom orders placed by local businesses and organizations while also receiving help with employability skills. The work they do provides a KMI revenue source that supplements grants, corporate funding and private donations.

“While woodworking is central to KMI, students have the opportunity to explore basic trade skills as they prepare for life after high school,” says Blackburn. “Our graduates include two plumbers, a welding company owner, an electrical programmer, a draftsman for a local architectural firm, a maker of wood-carved pens in California and a KMI staffer who works as a transportation and program assistant.”

Such success stories help to explain the Kids Making It name. That is, kids make the products and kids make it in life as well.

“Kids Making It is truly more than a woodworking program for disadvantaged youth,” says Blackburn. “Rather, it is a means by which we’re able to reach out to the kids to build their confidence and self-worth as we show them what they can achieve — whether it be the trades, military, college or starting their own business. Our purpose is to help them achieve long-term success, in whatever form that takes, for each of our kids.”

Future Looks Bright

This commitment to helping KMI youth achieve their goals is seen in the program’s continuous improvement efforts. For example, the Foundations of Success program serves as a wraparound, holistic approach for meeting the individual needs of students, whether it’s math, history or English.

“The average ratio of students to school counselors is currently around 350:1. So we work hard to provide our kids with all the academic and long-term planning support we can. This includes personalized tutoring and year-round financial literacy workshops,” says Blackburn. And to help encourage greatness and consideration of lesser-known careers, Blackburn says KMI provides guest speakers such as Andrew Cooke, vice president of business development at McKinley Building Corporation, and Tanner Konrady, owner of Konrady & Son Construction, as well as field trips to places such as the Cape Fear Community College Culinary Arts program and the Young Eagles program near Oak Island, which offers free introductory airplane flights and aviation education for youth.

Looking down the road five years out, Blackburn envisions having an Apprentice Campus. “This will be a way for us to expand the program to as many as 30 apprentices at any given time. In addition to increasing the number of projects, it will allow us to expand into larger projects, such as sheds. We are working hard to identify a good site for our campus and are very excited about what we can build so that we can serve and support our kids better, and for generations to come.”

Stay tuned.

Want to Help?

For information on how to donate your time, money and resources to help ensure the continued success of Kids Making It, Blackburn invites you to contact him at
kevin@kidsmakingit.org or 910-228-7116 and to follow KMI on Facebook and Instagram @kidsmakingit for updates on special open houses. Or just stop by the gift shop this holiday season, Monday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m.