Every project here was worked by initiative trainees alongside experienced contractors and tradespeople — real jobs, real supervision, documented start to finish. This page grows as the work does.
One Day on 79th Street
The Chicago Body Shop — a fitness studio on the Southeast Side — took on a second location that needed clearing before anything else could happen. Our trainees, graduates of Simeon Career Academy’s Class of 2026 and participants in Metropolitan Family Services’ Bridge to Construction program, worked it start to finish in a single day alongside the initiative’s crew: a building cleared, swept, and ready for what’s next.
The day was part of the program’s two-to-three-week Mental Toughness component — the habits phase: stay focused, work safely, communicate, solve problems, accept coaching, finish what you start.
More projects are coming. The program is expanding, and every accepted project becomes a page like this one — before, after, and the people who did the work.