Sometimes, great examples of faith aren’t found under the roof of a church, but in the hearts of people who are moved to provide Christian leadership in their community.

Chandler Whitney, Vicksburg resident and a married father of three children, is one of those people. He started The Foundry several years ago. The Foundry is a nonprofit outreach for boys aged nine to 17, most in need of strong male figures in their lives, that seeks to teach them fundamental skills needed for life and mentorship by godly men.

Whitney recalled a conversation with a friend many years ago who was trying to help recently paroled inmates return to the work force. The lack of basic skills, such as even knowing how to sweep the floor, was holding them back.

“Maybe we should do something and try and change that,” Whitney said.

The Foundry was born.

“We started in my one-car garage at my house on Saturday mornings, teaching boys how to do stuff,” he said.

A few years ago, as the classes became too large for his garage, Whitney found the perfect location for The Foundry’s workshop. He purchased a house and shop not far from Drummond St. that had formerly been used as an automotive shop.

“When I thought up The Foundry, I felt that I was called by God to help boys,” Whitney said.

Whitney explained The Foundry seeks to counter the trend of fatherless, skill-less boys with a two-prong approach. The first prong involves teaching boys practical skills and the second prong provides mentorship by Christian men who provide the counsel and encouragement each boy needs to succeed.

“We start every lesson with a devotion and prayer,” Whitney said. “I want them (the boys) to understand that everything we do glorifies the Lord. That comes first and foremost.

“These skills that we teach, putting on a spare tire and stuff, they’re skills that a lot of people would need or want. But this is really a vehicle to mentor boys, to get them around Christian men,” Whitney said. “A lot of our kids don’t have fathers in the picture.”

Whitney relies on help from a group of volunteer Christian men who have the skills needed to teach and the desire to change young lives. For a group of seven boys, Whitney usually has three to four adult volunteers present.

Classes are divided into groups. Level One typically tackles beginning skills, such as building campfires and learning about tools. Level Two classes introduce more advanced topics, such as small construction projects, changing a flat tire and grilling over a charcoal grill.

Whitney said the program is not affiliated with a specific church. It is funded by grants and donations from individuals and businesses.

“We’re getting a lot of pressure to grow and have more classes,” he said.

There has been a strong interest to add summer programs to The Foundry. To do this, Whitney said he will need to embark on fundraising efforts to purchase supplies.

Overtime, Whitney selected topics to teach.

“There were a lot of things that didn’t make it,” Whitney said. “I went through all kinds of stuff for years, trying out different lessons that I came up with, seeing what worked, what didn’t work, what was a big hit and what wasn’t. I’d take notes and try to make it more efficient.”

Eventually, he came up with a set curriculum.

Whitney finds the boys quickly form a camaraderie with each other and the mixture of boys in age and background works together.

“We get a lot of kids that are special needs,” Whitney said. “We have a few that are autistic, have social anxieties, that don’t do well at sports. They find a place here. We’ll see kids helping other kids.”

When teaching topics, Whitney is sensitive to the needs of families who may be led by a single parent or be in a lower income bracket. He said he strives to teach things that are more likely to be accessible to them, like grilling over charcoal instead of gas.

Whitney said teaching boys how to build a campfire is one of his favorite topics. Initially, the boys are each given three matches and told to start a fire in individual pans with no instruction. After the boys have had a chance to experiment, the lead teacher walks them through the correct process of building a successful campfire. The boys then roast a hot dog over the campfire they just built.

As he watched the boys hold hot dogs over their campfires, Whitney said, with a grin, “When I buy the hot dogs, I definitely buy the pre-cooked ones.” One boy proudly declared his hot dog “the best ever!”

Whitney strives to show the boys The Foundry’s goal of understanding the purpose of what they learn, and that life and labor have meaning. As the boys worked on campfires Thursday night, Whitney encouraged one boy in particular who was struggling. As his fire took hold and began to blaze, the boy grinned.

“Look at that!” Whitney said to him, smiling. “Did you do that? Yeah, you did!”