CLEVELAND — In a tiny run-down home on Cleveland’s eastside is a construction crew, made up of kids, on a mission. A team of people learning not only the trade but also how to build their own successful futures.
James Singleton is the founder of Building Stronger Individuals. The program was birthed from his efforts to restructure his own life, after a challenging childhood.
“I graduated without being able to read and was expected to go into society and be successful," Singleton said.
And because he couldn’t read, he was unable to fill out job applications. The drug-infested neighborhood he grew up in, showed him only “one” way to success. So he sold drugs, got caught, and went to federal prison. The prison was the place where he began to rebuild his life.
Singleton came up with a plan to start working on houses, but he knew he had to tackle the task of learning how to read, and he did. Three years after he walked out of prison, he put his plan into action. He bought a property and became a licensed and bonded contractor.
He was doing well but also had a passion to show students that “street life” isn’t the only path to making good money and doing well. So he created Building Stronger Individuals.
“My program is designed to put kids in a position to generate money for themselves without having to go to the neighborhood drug guy, without having to pick a gun p to be able to generate money," Singleton said.
When I asked him what he loved most about what he was doing, he said seeing the excitement on the faces of the kids because they are learning something.
