Wisconsin Life

Milwaukee nonprofit builds boats and confidence with local youth

[sandpaper scrapes] [gentle uplifting music] – Bill Nimke: The Greek philosopher Anaxagoras said, “Man is the wisest of animals because he has hands.”
[music] The use of our hands stimulates, I believe, awakens a portion of our brain that we sometimes are not tapping into.
[music] All Hands Boatworks is truly a grassroots community organization that has grown literally out of the trunk of my car.
[rock music drumbeat] We started by loading up tools and lumber and supplies and bringing the projects to a school or youth organization, and building these simple 12-foot rowing boats there on site.
And a lot has happened, you know, since 10 years ago.
[friction] Often, kids simply– They don’t know what they’re getting into.
And I love the challenge that’s presented to ’em.
One of the many gratifying, rewarding elements of what we do is to see some of the impact that takes place, often just over the course of a single project.
And for a lot of kids, that first boat-building project takes about 30, 35 hours.
– Instructor: And I’ll work with you on that.
I can show you how to mask.
– Bill: Many times, when they start, the kids have some apprehensions, rightly so, about using some of the hand tools.
And, of course, we show them how to use them properly and safely.
We observe many, many times how you can see a certain growth in their own confidence in using those tools.
And there is a significant pride of accomplishment that we see in them and that the kids talk about once the project is finished and the boats are launched.
Our volunteers are certainly the lifeblood of the organization.
We have a current active core of anywhere from a dozen to fifteen or so volunteers.
We always welcome folks to come in and offer to help.
– Instructor: And that helps him a ton to keep it so they get a square cut.
– Frank: Some help in the shop with fabrication of parts and work on the machines and repair of equipment.
Others are right there rubbing elbows, so to speak, with the kids.
They’re teaching and instructing and mentoring.
We work with hundreds of kids each year from the greater metro area.
And it’s a bit surprising, and yet a reality, that a number of kids haven’t even been to the lakefront.
They don’t even know very much about Lake Michigan or our Great Lakes.
At the same time, they may live in a neighborhood that’s just several blocks away from one of our major rivers.
And so, you know, through the boat building, again, it’s important that we take these craft, these small craft, and get out on the water, and get involved with our waterways.
And it becomes a stimulus for thinking about the water and the quality of the water.
[sander whirrs loudly] Wooden boats have been built by human beings for probably as long as human beings have existed or, you know, needing of some form of a transportation or to get from one bank of the river across to the other.
There’s a beauty and an elegance in the form of a wooden boat itself that’s captivating and that we appreciate.
[mesmerizing piano sequence] We want to make sure that we are a sustainable organization.
And that means not only continuing to attract the resources we need to deliver the programming that we have but also building our capacities to work with even more young people, in our area.
[rippling piano]