A Force for Health Institute Program

Hand tools, life skills, a real career.
Earned, not given.

Tools for Living teaches youth seventeen real skills — from screwdriver to circular saw, from patching a wall to painting their first apartment, from mowing a lawn to running a side hustle. Finish Level 1 and you've earned a sponsored toolkit, a certificate, and a spin on the wheel for bigger prizes — including a $500 trade-school scholarship.

▶ Start Learning 🤝 Become a Mentor 🌟 Become a Partner
💪 Force for Health · 💵 Force for Wealth · 🤝 Force for Community
🪛

Screwdriver Mastery

Skill 1 of 17 · 25 min · 145 coins

🏆

Sponsored Toolkit

~$75 of real tools · earned

🎡

Spin the Wheel

$500 scholarship in the mix

🤝

Rocky's mentoring

Every learner, every step

One adult. Twenty minutes. A kid's whole path.

Tools for Living was built around a simple truth: most kids never get taught how to fix what they own. The ones who do — they become independent. They help their neighbors. They discover a trade. They earn money. They become the adult someone else points to.

A man who can't name his tools is going to fight them every time he picks them up.
Rocky (Rocco Robert Gillio, 1916–1999) — combat medic on Iwo Jima, medic to the Tuskegee Airmen, master salesman, father who took the time.

Why this program exists

There are 650,000+ unfilled skilled-trade jobs in America — and a confidence gap in every neighborhood. Tools for Living is our answer: a structured, gamified, badge-earning path through the seventeen skills every young person needs to take care of their own space, help an elder fix theirs, and discover the career hiding in their hands.

Every skill maps to a real trade. Every badge brings you closer to a real toolkit. Every learner is paired with a real adult mentor — parent, grandparent, teacher, neighbor, trade pro — who's been trained in safety and supervision.

💪Health
💵Wealth
🤝Community

Inside the Program

Seventeen skill stations, a Career Pathways atlas, real toolkit rewards, and Rocky's chat assistant baked into every lesson. Click any card to step inside.

ROCKY'S REPAIR SHOP 🧰 EARN YOUR SPONSORED TOOLKIT 🪛Screw. 🔨Hammer 🔧Wrench 🪑Allen 🧴Glue 🚲Bike 🩹Patch 🎨Paint +9 more stations →
The Hub

Rocky's Repair Shop

17 stations across 3 levels: Basic Hand Tools, Apartment-Ready, Power Tools & Yard.

Open the Shop →
TOOLS FOR LIVING · SKILL 1 Screwdriver Mastery Learn It Live It Share It ▶ Watch · 5 Moves · Safe/Unsafe coins 45 / 145
Sample Lesson

Screwdriver Mastery

Pre-test → Five Moves → Safe/Unsafe → Live It → Share It → Badge. Rocky chat included.

See a lesson →
+50★+100TOOL +200KITPIN$500 coins SPIN! coins 215 coins + certificate
Reward Engine

Toolkit Claim & Spin Wheel

Certificate, 3 toolkit claim paths, Healthy Coins, and a wheel with $500 scholarship entries.

See the rewards →
THE FFH MENTOR PLEDGE "I will be a Force for Health for this young person." I. Model safe tool use, every time. II. Work in open, observable spaces. III. Ask permission before photos. IV. Teach the why, not just the how. Mentor signature
For Adults

Mentor Training Basics

20-min training: tool safety, boundaries, age-appropriate progression, the FFH Mentor Pledge.

Train mentors →
📍 PHIT · PROGRAMS NEAR YOU 17104 SAVE ZIP ⚡ Electrician $60-110K 1-2 yr CTC + 4 yr appr. 🔧 Plumber $59-100K CTC + 4-5 yr appr. 🏗️ Carpenter $50-85K CTC + 3-4 yr appr. 🚀 HOW TO GET STARTED CTC program → IBEW apprenticeship → journeyman license 📍 FIND NEAR ME 25 mi · CareerOneStop
For Wealth

Career Workforce Pathways

18 trades mapped to badges. Enter your zip → find Career Tech Centers near you (real DOL data).

Explore careers →
🌟 PARTNERS · SIX TRACKS Power a region · fund a toolkit 💰CASH$25 min 🧰TOOLS10 kits/qtr 🎓SCHOLAR$500 min 🤝MENTOR5+ mentors 🏫CAREERCTC / appr. 🏪RETAILcoupons 📍 CLAIM A ZIP CODE OR REGION Smith Foundation · 17104, 17105, 17109
For Sponsors

Partners & Sponsors

Six ways in: cash, tools, scholarships, mentors, career training, retail. Claim a region.

Become a partner →

How it works

Four steps — repeatable across every level — designed for a kid and an adult mentor side by side.

1📚

Learn It

Pre-test, lesson, labeled diagrams, video tutorials, Five Moves, Safe & Unsafe grid.

2🔨

Live It

3 hands-on photo tasks. Tighten something, build something, help someone. Earn coins.

3🤝

Share It

Help a neighbor with the skill. Post the win. Take the post-test. Claim the badge.

4🏆

Earn the Toolkit

Finish a level → certificate, sponsored toolkit, Healthy Coins, a spin on the wheel.

Why it matters

The data behind the program.

650K+
unfilled U.S. skilled-trade jobs
17
core skills, each mapped to a real career
$75
to earn one full toolkit — yours
2.3×
earnings gain for youth with a mentor in a trade

Three ways in

Tell us who you are — we'll show you the right starting point.

🎒

I'm a Learner

You want to learn the tools, earn the badges, claim a real toolkit, and maybe earn money helping your neighbors. We'll match you with a mentor and route you to your first lesson.

Start Learning →
🤝

I'm a Mentor

You can show a kid how to swing a hammer, drive a screw, paint a wall, mow a lawn. Twenty-minute training gets you ready — safety, boundaries, age-appropriate progression.

Train as a Mentor →
🌟

I'm a Partner

Cash, tools, scholarships, mentor pool, career training, retail redemption. Claim a zip code or region and we'll route learners and toolkits in that area to you.

Become a Partner →

Common questions

If your answer isn't here, email academy@forceforhealth.com.

What does it cost?

$100 includes the toolkit and online program access. Sponsor donations and scholarship gifts are encouraged so we can bring that cost down to free for learners who need it. Mentors train free. Partners can give any amount starting at $25 — and underwrite a learner outright at $100.

How old does my child have to be?

Online program access requires age 13 or up (Force for Health Institute's online policy). Younger learners are welcome to work hands-on with a parent, mentor, or in a classroom setting using the printable lesson materials. Power tools (Level 2) open at age 14+ with a trained mentor. The age-appropriate tool table in the Mentor Training page lays out every detail.

I'm a teacher / CTC director — can I run this in my classroom?

Yes. The 17 lessons run as a semester arc or self-paced. The Career Pathways atlas already routes graduates to CTCs and apprenticeships. Become a Career Training Partner and we'll list your program.

Is the toolkit real?

Yes — a real, physical set with safety glasses, hammer, screwdrivers, wrench, sandpaper, glue, and a file. Three claim options: monthly drawing, retail-partner coupon, or a single-use code at the online partner store.

How is Tools for Living different from a YouTube DIY channel?

Structure, mentorship, accountability, and reward. A YouTube video shows you how. Tools for Living gives you a mentor next to you, a coin-and-badge progression, a certificate at the end, a real toolkit when you finish Level 1, and a direct ramp into trade-school career pathways.

Is it 501(c)(3)? Are donations tax-deductible?

Yes — Force for Health Institute operates a 501(c)(3) foundation arm. Cash and in-kind gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Receipts provided for gifts over $25. EIN available in the partnership packet.

Pick up a tool. Change a life.

Maybe yours. Maybe a neighbor's. Maybe the kid down the block who's been waiting for someone to show them how.

▶ Start Learning 🤝 Train as a Mentor 🌟 Become a Partner