Today we’d like to introduce you to Czyz Jones.
Hi Czyz, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I battled with the ideas of this program for a few years. Wondering where to start, how I was going to get people to help, and wondering if people would respond to me. One day I pitched my idea to my friend and brother. He said it would be a great thing to start. We talked for a few weeks about it trying to figure out how people would listen to us. With cultivating an appropriate approach, being we were once the same young men who were in need due to be underprivileged circumstances. So we started walking around the community daily, talking to the teens and young adults about life and the struggles we faced. It was amazing how many young people started to gravitate to us. They could see how we started off on the wrong path in life to become hard-working entrepreneurs and family men. For me, I think most of the kids feel that there is still hope for them just by seeing two strong men of color from their neighborhood. We didn’t give up on ourselves and kept pushing to get out of the streets. Now we are in a position to come back to uplift the youth of our community.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of our struggles has been finances. My partner and I try to make sure that we can deliver on the things that we offer to the community. We’ve also struggled with partnering up with other organizations/businesses because we are a new organization. I would love to connect with other groups to help end a lot of the violence and stereotypes. We truly want to make an impact. We struggle in connecting with pipelines for employment for participants in the community.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in any mechanical moving part as a millwright for the last ten years, I have acquired more than 20 different Certifications. The thing that I am most proud of is being able to teach people different Vocational skills through our programs Dreambuilders of Atlanta.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Go to our website or Instagram@dreambuildersofatlanta.
Contact Info:
- Website: Dreambuildersofatl.com
- Instagram: Dreambuildersofatlanta
