BRUSH BOYS

Brush Boys is a mentored employment program for teenage boys in and around Corvallis, OR whose goal is to provide boys work experience and develop confidence, work ethic, judgement and accountability. Our work happens primarily in Partnership with Team Dirt, a local non profit trail building group and with Oregon State University College of Forestry.

Boys meet after school one day a week and work in the College forest building trails for use by their community. Typical work hours are from 3pm to 6:30 pm. Boys work in teams of up to 7 and begin work on a trial/probationary basis and then have evaluations on a regular basis. We have a scholarship fund for families of boys who require that resource.

Teen employment has been on a steady and significant decline nationally and in Oregon in recent decades and research has shown that the right kind of work experience can be very beneficial for youth both for their performance as students and for future employment outcomes. We believe that mentoring is something that happens most effectively in the context of a bigger cause or endeavor and not for the sake of mentoring itself. We are committed that boys experience themselves as wiser, stronger and as people who have more to offer as a result of their work on the Brush Boys crew.

We partner with various agencies and organizations including Team Dirt (a local trail building non profit)and Oregon State University Research Forests. We source and recruit work from the community regularly and invite you to be in touch with us about work you or your organization needs done. Its our goal to provide low cost or subsidized labor that ensures the Brush Boys crew plenty of work opportunities.

That said, their work experience and supervision is meant to fulfill upon the following intentions:

Develop a strong sense of appreciation and respect for hard/physical work
Provide real world work experience
Develop/Expand Responsibility, Accountability, Competence and Confidence
Develop judgement and problem solving skills

Examples of typical work we do:

Building trails (in partnership with Team Dirt and Oregon State University College of Forestry)
Yard work
Managing and maintaining gear and vehicles
Splitting and stacking wood
Various other manual work - moving, demolition, clean up etc.

We focus on making sure the boys have meaningful work that clearly contributes to:

The overall mission of Coyle Outside
The community at large
Generating revenue to sustain and grow Brush Boys

Boys come to us in various ways:

By word of mouth and their own curiosity/initiative
As a recommendation by a family member, teacher, coach or therapist/counselor

We communicate with referral sources and family when arranged to provide and incorporate updates and feedback. We are available to correspond directly with support providers to provide consistency with treatment planning and behavioural contracts.

Be in touch with Daniel Coyle at 541-760-0774 / daniel@coyle-llc.com for more information or for a request for work. We will provide you with a cost/quote that covers our operational expenses and does not incorporate a profit margin.