BY JENNA JORDAN CLEVELAND

CLEVELAND — As students head back to school, a group of teenagers in northeast Ohio are going back after a summer break where they took part in the Building Great Futures program.

The Building Great Futures program is a partnership between the Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Ohio, Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity and Youth Opportunities Unlimited.

What You Need To Know

• Building Great Futures is a program that brings together the Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Ohio, Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity and Youth Opportunities Unlimited

• This year, 15 students were selected to take part in the program, earning a paycheck and job skills training

• The students renovated four Cleveland homes this summer

This year, 15 students took part in the project rehabilitating four Cleveland homes.

Kheziah Frazier, 17, was excited to help build from the ground up. 

“We’re really working hard, putting in a lot of work for these people,” he said. “A lot of dedication. We really love what we’re doing.”

Turning the houses into homes had a special meaning for him. 

“My mom, she got a Habitat for Humanity House and they did a good job on her house,” Kheziah said. “They did it for us, so I’m just doing the same thing back for them, you know?”

He’s paying forward and looking forward to getting paid, as a part of the Building Great Futures program. 

“Everything will pay off in the end when that check comes,” he said. 

The hands-on experience gave the students different skills training, and all 15 received Occupational Safety and Health Administration certification.

“Just to reiterate to them these are life lessons that you’re learning, and while you’re learning them, take the opportunity to really dig in so that you can use this stuff in the future,” said Michael Standberry, site director for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio. 

Standberry supervised the teens while at the work sites. 

“At the end of the day, we’re getting them ready to experience what life is gonna give them,” Standberry said. 

Kheziah said he was proud of the work he was doing.

“It makes me feel good,” he said. “Just doing something good, doing something positive. There’s nothing wrong with helping someone out.”

PUBLISHED 9:45 AM ET AUG. 24, 2022