By Jay Sorgi • Posted August 8, 2025

Christ’s face sometimes becomes visible through confidence found, particularly in youth living in at-risk neighborhoods.

Chase Morris and Jahierah Morrison’s confidence in their future shines through their expressions as they talk about the experiences that they and 28 other young people over three cohorts have encountered in Catholic Charities of Philadelphia’s Youth Skills Building Program (YSBP), an initiative that has reached its first anniversary.

The budding program focuses on offering trade education for teenagers in neighborhoods affected heavily by violence and poverty. Many in the current program are rising high school seniors.

“Dedication, perseverance, just wanting to do it. If you want to do anything, you put your mind to it. You can do it,” said Morris, 17, after participating in the program since September and becoming a classroom assistant for incoming students.

“I like the people, what we do, how we do it. I can’t even just put one thing as my favorite. Everything here is special to me.”

“It was like something I never would have thought like it was going to be,” said Morrison. “I thought it was going to be something that I wasn’t going to enjoy or I wasn’t going to be excited to do, but instead, it was a different outcome.

“I met new people. We built a bond. We built a whole classroom. We helped other people, inspired people.”

All this inspiration and achievement happens in the former St. Gabriel Parish Elementary School building in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of South Philadelphia. YSBP, led by Director Alan Speed, uses funds from the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services.

Prospective students fill out a form to begin the application process, and there currently is a waiting list for future cohorts.

Summer students participate from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., while those participating during the school year come for three hours after school.

In those hours, students learn practical skills in areas like carpentry, concrete masonry, electrical and home repair from skills educator Ken Whalen. The experience they gain may eventually lead to federal OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) certification in safety and construction.

Students also worked on various outside projects beyond the classroom, including door repairs at St. Gabriel’s.

The interpersonal skills and self-understanding they gain might outweigh what they discover about hammers, nails, wiring, brick and mortar.

“I help get them job ready, interview prep, building resumes, working on problem solving, self-awareness, even having some of those customer service skills, because if they pursue this in the field, they are going to be dealing with customers and clients,” said Dominique Acevedo, who plays a key role in the workforce and personal development of these young people. “We want them to be ready to have those skills.”

Acevedo has helped teach the program students many practical skills as well, including networking with peers in the industry, building resumes, learning to manage money, and how to create a limited liability corporation, or LLC, someday for their own business.

She considers Chase Morris to be an example of what YSBP can do for young people.

“When he came in, he was very withdrawn. He would come in with his headphones every day. He would be quiet. He would sit in a corner. As the weeks and months went on, he really just blossomed into a completely different person,” said Acevedo.

“The growth and the confidence has expanded in him, even the leadership skills that he’s taken on now that we brought him back to be an assistant in the classroom. He’s helping with the instructors. He has really just completely transitioned from where he started to where we ended.”

When Jahierah Morrison began the program, “I had no type of patience at all, none,” she said. “Being in an environment working with other people, I had to get to learn them. Being around many different personalities, (learning) patience for other people.”

Program participants are now seeing these lessons turn into pathways for their futures. Some graduates have enrolled in the CNC Machining trade program in the Urban Youth Racing School, with a four-month training program at Community College of Philadelphia. The program directly leads to job placement.

The current journey for Morrison is now leading directly to Temple University.

“I originally was interested in the program because I wanted to be a real estate agent. When I went into the carpentry program, I said, ‘OK, this could be like a step towards me being a realtor.’ Now I’m going to Temple, studying real estate starting in the fall,” she said.

“It kept us off the streets, gave us money in our pockets.”

Some students plan to apply to the Williamson College of the Trades in Media, Delaware County later this summer, while others work hands-on as contractors gaining experience both in the trades and as entrepreneurs.

That includes the new machining program Morris will be entering as he builds his path toward a future of hope.

“I’m just ready to get into the field,” said Chase. “I’m ready to start my career, ready to get going.”