The newest graduates of the Westside Works Construction Ready program are armed with the tools to reshape the landscape of their own community.

ATLANTA — Over on Atlanta’s Westside sits a neighborhood in transition. Christian Clark-Ward moved to Atlanta as a boy and has seen change with the swing of a crane. Clark-Ward now has a daughter with autism, and she has inspired him to help build a better community for those with special needs.

“This side of town, there’s progress, they’re making it better,” Clark-Ward said. “Back then, it was kind of not so good. Now that the development is kind of happening, it’s looking a lot better.”

Kyra Bowers and Clark-Ward are just a couple of the newest graduates of the Construction Ready program by Westside Works. The program aims to train a local workforce that will have a hand in building their own community. 

The program was borne over ten years ago out of a need for more skilled laborers during the building of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Site manager Mary Williams said more than 2,000 students, from ages 19 to 65, have gone through the 20-day intensive program. 

“They’re learning construction drawing, basic safety, OSHA standards,” Williams said. “We are making sure they’re on time, punctual, and meeting all the professional standards required. We’re impacting lives. We’re impacting families. We’re impacting cities, towns, most importantly we’re impacting people, legacies and traditions.”

Bowers said she hopes to build communities in poverty using the skills she learned in the program. She moved from Chicago to Atlanta two years ago for new opportunities. While she has retail experience, construction is relatively new to her. Now, she will work for Chicago-based UJAMAA Construction to help build her new community in Atlanta.

“This program builds a lot of foundation work,” Bowers said. “It’s the areas you didn’t think you needed the help in. Getting that brushing up on makes you so much more pristine. My goal is to help build communities in poverty. I don’t think you can place a value on building a community back. It’s just something that you want it to impact the heart so you continue to do that and it just kind of overflows like paying it forward in a sense.”

Clark-Ward, who will work for Dixie Membrane Roofing on the Centennial Yards project, said pursuing this new job means following his faith and laying a foundation for the next generation.

“Don’t feel like you’re too old, too young, this life has passed you by,” Clark-Ward said. “Always strive to get a little bit of somewhere. Regardless of how life may keep knocking you down, keep striving, keep trying.”