Former WeBuild Participants Use Learned Skills to Build Success After Release

At CoreCivic's Crowley County Correctional Facility in Olney Springs, Colorado, dozens of students have learned carpentry and design skills and earned industry-recognized certifications through the WeBuild program. WeBuild is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing vocational training to incarcerated individuals to give them marketable skills to help them find success upon release, and this dedication is having a major impact for three former participants.

This is the story of Matt, Ben and Bill.

Matt used his WeBuild education and skills to start his own woodworking business. He said before entering the WeBuild program, he didn't have any carpentry experience. But once he started learning and building, he knew this was what he wanted to do as a career.

"When I was in the program, I knew opening my own shop one day was a possibility because I knew I had support, but I didn't visualize it at that point," he said.

When he was released from Crowley, Matt spent several years working for others, siding garage doors, building cabinets and subcontracting, gaining more experience and knowledge before launching his own shop.

"My wife bought a house that had a detached garage. She said if you want to make a go at it, here you go," Matt said. "I built cabinets in my garage for probably three years. I eventually took on two partners and moved to the shop we're in now, which is significantly larger. After a few years I bought out both my partners and now it's just me, Ben, Bill and my brother."

Ben and Bill are also former WeBuild participants. While they were at Crowley, Ben was known for his design and people skills, and Bill for his craftsmanship and mentorship. Now, they use these skills every day to work with customers to create the homes of their dreams.

"I basically do all the cabinet design, I run the office, handle the sales calls and deal with vendors," Ben said.

"I love building cabinets," Bill shared. "It's repetitive work, but you get in a groove, and I love it because I'm still learning."

While participating in the WeBuild program, students learn safety fundamentals and then advance to building trusses, frames, cabinetry and more. Each piece is then used to support low-income housing in nearby communities.

Ben and Bill said when they were students, knowing they were making a positive impact on the community gave them a sense of purpose.

"It's really hard to feel like you're living your best life, and WeBuild gives you that ability because not only are you improving yourself, but you're also improving people around you and the lives of people you're never going to meet through their ability to get a place to live that they might not have any other way," Ben said.

"When I was in the program, we were men at work, we weren't inmates," Bill said. "It was that I enjoyed most, and being a mentor and giving back-helping people that we didn't even know and giving them their own housing. Giving back proved to me that I might've been a screwup when I got to Crowley, but I was trying to change that."

All three men recently had the opportunity to return to Crowley to share their stories and their pathway to success to current WeBuild participants, and all three had a piece of advice to share:

"Keep going," Matt said. "In prison things can get monotonous and boring. The WeBuild program gave me an opportunity; I had to take that opportunity and run with it. Even if I got out and never did cabinetry, the family aspect of the program was a really big help in getting through my time."

"Take advantage of the situation you're being given right now," Bill said. "You can take the class just to pass your time, or you can do it to try to make life better when you get out. Now, I'm living the best life I've ever lived."

"I would tell them this is an amazing program," Ben said. "It enables you to learn things that you can definitely leave prison with that can make you a decent living. The whole art of woodworking is really amazing, and what you learn you can do with just a few machines and a lot of tenacity is pretty incredible."

Now, after years of persistence, dedication and hard work, Matt's business has clients across the whole western United States, and Ben and Bill are thriving with rewarding careers that they love.

"I love my job, and living where I live now is fabulous," Bill shared. "I wouldn't trade it."