In 2006 The Morton Middle School Furniture Repair and Building Maintenance Program was funded for the first time by YouthWorks, an agency founded to provide youth services to the young men and women in the city of Fall River. The program was originally developed in 1992 by Daniel Raposa, James Taylor and instructor Edward Davis to facilitate the rebuilding and refinishing of aging wooden furniture and to perform repairs to the physical plant. Since its inception, the use of wooden furniture has been eliminated and the program has evolved to mainly a painting and maintenance site. Every year, 10 to 12 young workers are placed at our site through the Career Center of Fall River. The workers are employed for 6-8 weeks each summer. Their activities have also included remediation in math and English, job related academics, and four hours of work. For many of the workers, it is their first meaningful employment and it has often helped them develop the job readiness skills to find employment in local businesses and institutions. Under YouthWorks the academics has been eliminated, and the students are able to work six6 hours per day.The program has existed through the years through partnerships with the Bristol County Training Consortium, Morton Middle School, The Fall River Public Schools Buildings and Grounds, and The Bristol Workforce Investment Board. For more information about the program, contact Ed Davis at 508-675-8340.
 

(Top row, left) YouthWorks employee Taylor Wilke cuts a line on a painting project at Morton Middle School. (Top row, center) Jessica Pasaska reaches the high sections in one of the classroom areas that student repainted. (Top row, right) Taylor prepares to scrape while fellow employee Ethan Almeda looks on. (Middle row, left) Adrian Colon sands a work bench. (Middle row, center) The Center Crew: (Front row,  left to right) Adrian Colon, Jessica Patrasca, Ethan Almeida, Robert Yarborough, Hugo Resendes, John Frank (Back row) Taylor Wilke, Sanine Tilton, and Marques Cunningham (Not pictured) Robert Paquette and Matthew Moser. (Middle row, right) Hugo Rezendes removes some paint while Adrian Colon sands. (Bottom row, left) Hugo and Adrian work on refinishing tables for the school science classrooms. (Bottom row, center) The finished products are ready for delivery. (Photos and text courtesy of Ed Davis.)