Have you ever been depressed? Ever felt like it wasn’t worth trying anymore?
Then you know something of how Ebony Flonory felt after her older brother was gunned down on a street in the Boston suburb of Mattapan in June 2016.
“I gave up. I distanced myself from my family. I was depressed all the time. I didn’t care about life anymore,” Flonory said.
Her brother had been, and remains, an outsized and positive influence in her life. He was a member of the Bricklayers (BAC) and talked to her about the importance of unionism, of learning a trade, of doing a job and doing it well.
Before Andrew Flonory’s murder, he helped convince his sister to get into Building Pathways, a pre-apprenticeship program founded by the Building and Construction Trades Council of the Metropolitan District in 2011 to help bring women and people of color into union-run, skill-based and career-focused apprenticeship programs.
“It was the best decision I’ve made in my life,” Flonory said. At Building Pathways, she attended every class and learned about the various trade unions. She was drawn to the Laborers (LIUNA) because those workers do a little of everything. They arrive on a construction project before it starts and stay until after it’s finished, and you learn about the entire process.
It didn’t always seem so great. After graduating from Building Pathways, she applied for jobs but never heard anything.
That’s when her brother was shot. At that point, Flonory didn’t want to do anything. Her family has known far too much tragedy. Her sister and 2-year-old nephew were shot to death in 2010 in what’s been called the Mattapan Massacre. Yet Flonory had a lot to live for. She herself has a 14-year-old daughter.
Earlier in her life, Flonory had gotten into trouble with the law. It wasn’t anything serious, but in the wake of her brother’s death, she could have spiraled down. Unable to find anything better, she worked at Dunkin’ Donuts in the town of Bridgewater.
The staffers at Building Pathways didn’t give up on her.
One day in January, while she was at work at Dunkin’ Donuts, Flonory got a text from Building Pathways about a job. She called the number and heard some sweet words: “You’re in. How soon can you start?”
Since that phone call, Flonory has been working steadily and getting the school hours she needs to complete her apprenticeship. In her spare time, she still helps out at Dunkin’ Donuts. So far, she has taken classes in safety and health, welding and cutting with a torch, and how to rig and hoist construction materials.
She’s learning all the time, which feels good. The pay is wonderful. Soon she will be eligible for health care benefits. She even talks about the possibility of one day retiring as a LIUNA member.
“My brother was right,” she said.