“Rock” Rocks Auto-Care Outreach

by Abiba Biao The New Haven independent

Rodney “Rock” Williams is on a mission to help New Haven teens learn how to change tires, check oil and brakes, and take care of a car — as part of a training program designed to help city youth get work, and not get in trouble.

Williams — a New Haven native, neighborhood activist, construction contractor, and landscaper — is the founder of a nonprofit called Rescuing Our Community Kids (ROCK). Last Friday, he paid a visit to a class of 10 students at Wilbur Cross High School to recruit for his auto-mechanic workshops. 

The inspirational message emblazoned across his Nike shirt — “Just Do It” — is what he hoped to impart on the kids. He said he succeeded. At the end of his talk, four students joined his project, growing his cohort from five to nine students. 

Williams said that his nonprofit recently received a $70,000 grant from gun-violence-prevention program Project Longevity.

With this grant, Williams is running two six-week sessions on automotive work and maintenance for students. Each session will have 16 kids, with the goal of reaching 32 kids in total. Williams described the initiative as part job-training program, part discouragement from stealing cars.

Over the years, car theft among juveniles has become a recurring topic in neighborhood meetings from Beaver Hills to Newhallville to Westville.

The program is currently in the recruitment stage. His first stop on his recruitment tour was Wilbur Cross last Friday. Williams said that he plans on visiting other city high schools like Hillhouse in the coming weeks. Williams said that any student who’s interested in the program can join.

According to Williams, a total of nine students have shown interest in the program so far:  five who have been referred by the New Haven Police Department and four recruited from Cross. At its core, the program is built off of two key aspects: automotive body work (which also includes OSHA training) and one-on-one mentorship. 

“I think a lot of these young men need to have conversations with positive role models in the city,” Williams said during an interview at Cross on Friday. He emphasized the importance of mentorship and the need for a systems-level approach to promote youth development.  “And I think that the city, the community needs to figure out a way to come together to help these kids, ’cause they didn’t get bad overnight.”

“When somebody’s dehydrated, they don’t need a bottle of water,” he said. “They need an IV. You need it straight to the body, and what these kids need is an IV.”

In addition to working to identify students who are interested in enrolling in the program and creating a consolidated database, Williams said he’s also looking for financial collaborators and partners interested in supporting the program. 

Reginald Slade, a youth coordinator at Cross who oversaw Williams’ class visit last Friday, said that he noted high engagement, describing the visit as giving the kids “something real to respond to.” Mentors, Slade argued, are able to form closer bonds with students because they’re not dedicated authority figures placed by the school. Instead, mentors and guest speakers can establish more organic social connections compared to the obligatory interactions students have with school administrators.

“Rodney came in, giving them the real deal about life and what you need to do to prepare yourself for the next level, if you want to succeed,” he said. He also underlined the importance of developing safe spaces for kids to grow, develop emotional regulation skills, and seek the help they need.

“All of the kids nowadays, they put so much emphasis on what their peers think of them, and nothing else matters,” Slade said. “So when they’re in front of their peers they put on facades. So we [adults and school staff] have to break all of that down… You can come in and relax. Take all that off; take the mask off and let’s talk. Let’s have a real conversation that’s affecting you and how we could help with giving you the tools to improve yourself.”

Future projects Williams hopes to launch under ROCK include landscaping and neighborhood beautification programs for youth. The project connects to his current occupation as the owner of Green Elm Construction. He argued that youth-based programs provide immediate supportive inventions for the community. 

“I think a lot of kids … don’t care about what they’re doing because they don’t think they have a future,” he said. “I want them to realize, you could have a future.”

Those interested in getting in touch with Williams about this work can reach him at rescuingourcommunitykids@gmail.com.