Some Savannah residents who have made mistakes in the past may soon get a chance to avoid a condemned future.

That is part of the motivation behind a jobs training program for citizens with a criminal background that Mayor Eddie DeLoach and Alderwoman Carol Bell are developing in conjunction with local union representatives.

Rather than sitting at home on probation, DeLoach said individuals who have a record could be working and learning a new skill.

"Those people that can get an opportunity and can get a way to move forward, we want to try to figure out a way to make that happen," he said.

DeLoach and Bell recently met with representatives of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and the United Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters to discuss the implementation of the program, which is expected to help reduce Savannah's crime and poverty rates while addressing a local shortage of skilled workers.

Savannah residents used to work on Savannah projects, but now a lot of outside labor is brought in for the local jobs, said Meddy Settles, a representative of the carpenters union.

"It's become a gypsy workforce," Settles said.

Both the carpenters and pipefitters unions already have apprenticeship programs in place, which provide classroom training and on-the-job experience.

On Wednesday afternoon, program participants were busy practicing their drilling and welding skills at the carpenters' union training center off Chatham Parkway.

The union provides training and job opportunities at the center to men and women of all skill levels for the cost of membership - $22 a month.

One apprentice, 66-year-old Willie Jones, said he owned an interior trim company before retiring about four years ago and deciding to learn something new. The program has proven he is never too old to gain a new skill, Jones said.

"I feel like I'm 14," he said.

Jason Braddy said he enrolled in the program about seven months ago after a 20-year career in the paint and auto body business, where he found there wasn't much room for advancement. He has since found that employers favor workers who have undergone such programs because they know the participants gain the skills and safety knowledge needed for the job, Braddy said.

"They know this is top notch training," he said. "This isn't fly-by-night."

Unfortunately, some of the residents who would benefit the most from the training are barred from many of the union work sites - such as military installations, nuclear power plants and the Port of Savannah - because of their inability to pass a stringent background check, according to Brett Hulme, who met with the mayor as a representative of the Southeast Carpenters Regional Council.

Those individuals would be afforded the same training opportunities by putting them to work on a city project under the proposed plan, with the hope that they would acquire the necessary skills to obtain long-term employment.

"No one should be denied a second chance to make something of themselves due to a past indiscretion or a foolish mistake," Hulme said in a recent letter to the mayor concerning the potential program.

The program would focus on adults after the implementation of a new summer youth internship initiative in June, the Summer 500 program, which DeLoach and Bell also spearheaded and which the mayor's chief of staff, Martin Sullivan, has helped oversee.

The Summer 500 program and the expanded Savannah Pre-Apprentice Program is providing job training to about 600 young people ages 14 through 17.

Once the youth program winds down at the end of the month, city officials will focus more attention on launching the union program and determining a pilot project participants could be involved in, Sullivan said.

The cost to the city is expected to be minimal and hopefully some lives will be changed for the better in the process, DeLoach said.

"It might not happen - I don't know - but it's worth taking a chance and trying just to start building that bridge to a higher level of income," he said.