b'INCLUSIONIt\'sasystemofmentorshipandsupport designedtocarrygraduatesthroughtheir careers, and it\'s clearly working.Truong says Hammer Heads used to track how many cars its graduates had purchased asThey gave me life skills. They taught mea yardstick for success, but now it\'s houses. To date, that total is over 40a clear indicatorhow to change people\'s perspectives,that the program is generating tradespeople that are making a very good living. how you want to carry yourself,For many, this program is truly transformative.how you want to be portrayed by other people.Truong ought to know.he is a former gradu-ate of the program and firmly believes that if life had sent him down a slightly different path, it\'s quite possible he\'d be either dead or in jail now. Almost 10 years ago, he was 26 and had hit a vital crossroads in life. Faced with a seriesParisfoundhimselfstudyinganddoingHe says the biggest takeaway he received from ofdead-endjobsandtheaccompanyinghomework,understandinghowmuchthatthe program was the willingness to accept financial stress, plus the mental anguish fromhelped him. change and to learn self-discipline. All doors a sense of hopelessness over his plight, he wasopened up to Paris once he grasped this.struggling to stay on the right path. "If I had did that back in school, I probably Growing up in the gang-ridden neighbour- would have been a lot further in life rightParis,currentlyemployedbyWoodbridge-hood of Regent Park in Toronto, Truong hadnow," he says. basedSpeedyElectricContractorsLtd., seen so many of his friends succumb to theisnearlydonehisintermediatestatewith temptation of "fast money"the gang life- Just Smile just his final advanced term remaining, so style and selling drugs. In fact, over 30 of hishe expects to be a fully licensed electrician friends from those days wound up deceasedParisgushedabouthowmanydifferentwithin the next 18 months.or incarcerated.things he learned that he didn\'t even realizeHe definitely felt prepared for the workplace. he neededeven something as simple as justIn fact, once Paris arrived on site, he encoun-So how did Truong avoid this fate? smiling every day. teredolderjourneymenwhoweren\'tas He was referred by a neighbourhood employ- "They gave me life skills. They taught meefficient as he was. His foreman took notice ment centre to the Hammer Heads program. how to change people\'s perspectives, how youand gave him more responsibility. Takingthat"leapoffaith"reallychangedwant to carry yourself, how you want to beParis says upon completion of the Hammer everything for Truong. After graduating fromportrayed by other people." Heads program, he "was inspired to bring the program, he worked in the industry for awhileandultimatelyearnedhislicense. Truong then came full circle and was hired to manage the Hammer Heads program.Now, he\'s committed to paying it back."I can give back and potentially save lives," Truong says.Paris counts himself among that group.Given the issues that his family faced, the opportunity to earn a much better living was a golden ticket for Paris, who graduated from Hammer Heads in 2016 and is now a fourth-year electrical apprentice. Schoolhadneverinspiredanypassionor interest, so he had muddled through by doing the bare minimum, but that all changed once he entered the program."Goingthroughthisprogram,Islowly startedtorealizeactuallyhowmuchwhat they\'re saying to me makes sense." Suddenly, Ontario Electrical Contractor15'