A beautifully renovated Detroit home interior
Skilled Trades · Apprenticeship · Community Development

Building Futures
Through the Skilled Trades.

Jacks of All Trades trains Detroit residents in six high-demand trades through hands-on apprenticeship and mentorship — then puts those skills to work on community projects that rebuild neighborhoods.

6Skilled trades taught
1:1Student–mentor ratio
100%Job-placement focus
Watch our story

30 seconds that rebuild a block

Trusted partners in Detroit's renewal

Detroit Land Bank
City of Detroit
Section 8 & HUD
National Trade Associations
A fully restored Detroit brick home
Our Mission

A meaningful trade for every young person. A future for every neglected home.

Jacks of All Trades merges workforce development with neighborhood revitalization. Students learn high-demand trades by restoring real properties — gaining certification, mentorship, and a direct path to employment while rebuilding the neighborhoods they call home.

  • Hands-on experience on live renovation projects
  • Industry-recognized certification in six trades
  • 1:1 mentorship and job placement with partners
Explore our programs
Mission Statement

Why we exist

Jacks of All Trades Apprenticeship and Mentoring Program empowers disadvantaged youth with hands-on training in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping, drywalling, and roofing — while restoring dilapidated homes and revitalizing Detroit neighborhoods. Our mission is to reduce minority homelessness, support low-income families, and strengthen the city’s economic foundation by increasing tax revenue, utility revenue, and habitable housing inventory through strategic partnerships with the Detroit Land Bank, City Council, Section 8 Housing, and local tradesmen.

Executive Summary

Jacks of All Trades Apprenticeship and Mentoring Program (JOATAMP) is a Detroit-rooted nonprofit workforce-development and community-revitalization initiative designed to address multiple systemic challenges through one coordinated, self-sustaining model.

JOATAMP empowers disadvantaged youth through hands-on training and mentorship in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping, drywalling, and roofing — while simultaneously restoring dilapidated and abandoned homes throughout Detroit. These homes serve as live training environments, allowing students to gain real-world experience while directly contributing to neighborhood stabilization.

Like a well-balanced system in motion, each component of the program reinforces the next. As students learn skilled trades, vacant properties are transformed into safe, livable housing. As housing inventory increases, opportunities expand for Section 8 programs, low-income families, and individuals experiencing homelessness. As homes return to productive use, the city benefits through new tax revenue, utility revenue, and reduced blight — strengthening Detroit’s economic foundation.

Through strategic partnerships with the Detroit Land Bank Authority, City Council, Section 8 housing providers, local contractors, and experienced tradesmen, JOATAMP helps clear land-bank inventory while developing the next generation of skilled workers. These partnerships build credibility, trust, and long-term collaboration, ensuring that revitalization efforts are community-driven and locally formed.

JOATAMP is uniquely positioned to succeed because it is built from lived experience and local knowledge. With a deep understanding of Detroit’s neighborhoods, its housing challenges, and its people, this is not a single-issue program — it is a comprehensive model where education, housing, workforce development, and economic growth move together toward lasting impact.

What we stand for

Our core values

The principles behind every home we restore and every future we help build.

Empowerment

Equipping Detroiters with the skills, confidence, and career paths to shape their own futures.

Community Renewal

Restoring vacant homes and blocks so neighborhoods — and the people in them — can thrive.

Integrity

Honest work and full transparency with every dollar, decision, and promise we make.

Collaboration

Working shoulder-to-shoulder with students, mentors, partners, and neighbors to go further together.

Excellence

Holding every project and every graduate to a high, professional standard.

Jacks of All Trades Community Development Our Impact

Transforming lives and neighborhoods

6Trade Programs
100%Job-Placement Focus
1:1Mentorship Ratio
$100KRenovation Investment
How our model works

Five steps from training to transformation

A closed loop where student growth and neighborhood renewal reinforce one another.

Train & certify

Comprehensive instruction across six high-demand trades with recognized certification.

Mentor 1:1

Every student is matched with an experienced professional for guidance and support.

Restore homes

Students renovate real properties under supervision — demolition to finishing.

Renew the block

Completed homes go to families, beautifying lots and rebuilding neighborhood pride.

Reinvest & expand

Proceeds fund the next property, growing our reach across the city.

Place in careers

Graduates move into apprenticeships and full-time jobs with partner companies.

A Community Project · 50/50 Raffle

Our neighborhood revitalization project

One of the community projects we take on: restoring a vacant Detroit home from the ground up — inside and out — with our students doing the work. The 50/50 raffle funds it: half the pot goes to one lucky winner, the other half to the renovation.

Renovation funding progress $42,500 / $100,000
Before and after: a vacant Detroit home fully restored by our students
Jacks of All Trades volunteers and Detroit neighbors at the 50/50 raffle booth outside Ford Field
Out in the Community

Come find us at the 50/50 booth

Neighbors, students, families, and supporters from across Detroit stop by our booth to enter the raffle and back the rebuild. Come say hello — and grab your tickets in person.

Enter the 50/50 raffle
"This program gave me more than skills — it gave me a future. I went from no direction to a certified electrician with a full-time job. Now I'm helping rebuild the neighborhood I grew up in."
Program Graduate · Certified Electrician · Detroit
Get Involved

There's a place for you in Detroit's renewal story

Whether you're a student, mentor, business, or neighbor — your support transforms lives and blocks.

Enroll

Start a skilled-trade career with hands-on training.

Volunteer

Share your expertise as a mentor or on a build site.

Donate

Fund training, tools, and property renovation.

Partner

Bring your business into a public-private partnership.

Stay connected to the mission

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