CADILLAC — Leaders at one Northern Michigan church are hoping to give the homeless some jobs and skills, with a new business venture.
It’s called Trellis Works: Building Systems of Support.
They sell trellises built by people experiencing homelessness, thanks to a $2,700 grant.
The goal is to give the unhoused entrepreneurial and carpentry skills to eventually take over the business if successful.
Long time Cadillac First Presbyterian church member Bedonna Davis said the idea came out of nowhere one day.
“I was out in the garage one day and painting one of the trellises my husband built. And either one of us are not very good with tools. And this thought just came to me like, if we could do this, anybody could learn how to do this,” said Davis.
Davis said she took her idea to her pastor.
“He got really excited about it. because, you know, the more I thought about it, it’s not very expensive to build trellises. It’s just very useful for a lot of people and they’re very attractive. And so, we thought it would be a great venture to try,” said Davis.
Pastor Mike Horlocker said they got a grant to cover the costs of the wood and to pay the homeless a wage and Love Inc. was gracious enough to give them the space to build.
“We have enough wood to build up to 30 trellises. We built 25 or 26 of them. So, we have a few more to build. So, we are going to have another build day and, in a week or two to get the rest of those completed,” said Horlocker.
Davis said it’s been fun to watch them learn the skills of the trade.
“A lot of them are familiar with the tools. Others, you know, had a little bit more of a learning curve, but it was really cool to watch the guys just start after each build, grow more and more confident and working together as a team and just getting excited when they’ve got one built,” said Daivs.
Davis said the experience has been a rollercoaster of emotion for her.
“Sometimes I get really excited that things are going really good. And other times I get discouraged, wanting to move forward quicker, and just learning about people what their lives are like when they don’t have stable housing,” said Davis.
Horlocker said they are already selling them in the community.
“On Fridays, the farmer’s market has been gracious enough to give us a free spot to sell them, and we just found out that Grahek’s and Walraven’s is going to sell them on consignment for us as well,” said Horlocker.
He said they also have long range goals.
“The idea is, if it could take off that. Yes, we could just turn it over. We’d want to create, like, a nonprofit out of this and then hand off the leadership to them. Let it be their business,” said Horlocker.
For more information about the Trellis Works: Building Systems of Support, please click here.