There was a graduation ceremony for 20 people with new construction training, but this group has the extra distinction of overcoming a criminal history.
It is a re-entry program for people seeking to turn their lives around with new careers earning good money with law-abiding work.
So this graduation was a celebration at the Bill J. Priest Training Center on Corinth Street, not far from the Dallas County Jail where these graduates had spent time before.
Among them was Melvin Osborne, who says he now has a young son to look out for after a past life making money in illegal ways.
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“I’ve been going so through so much as far as my trials and tribulations and everything like that,” he said. “Now I have the opportunity to put people in my place that understand where I have come from and understand what I have done in the past and it’s OK. I’m trying to change. I feel real good.”
Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown, who runs the jail, warned the graduates of the additional challenge they will face resisting past ways.
Brown knows many inmates get back on the street and quickly return to her jail.
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“You’re going to have to let go of some of the people, the places and things you have known in the past. You’re going to have to leave those things alone because those things got you caught up,” Brown said.
The sheriff said everyone needs help from time to time and she urged the graduates to rely on family members and other people who care about them instead of the old friends who caused them trouble.
Osborne said he is better equipped now to do that.
“I got the tools now to do it. And now is the time to figure out where I want to be in the construction business,” he said.
The Regional Black Contractors Association that helped provide the training has good careers waiting for skilled workers who stay on the right path.
Each graduate obtained a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 30-hour training certification and a National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) certification.
Their classes lasted between four and ten weeks, depending on the program they selected.
The graduates were also students of Dallas College for the training.
