“Showbiz carpenter” Nick Offerman helps at-risk young adults in the woodshop and beyond

Maybe even more than movie and TV sets, actor Nick Offerman says he feels most at home among the sawdust and mechanical racket of a working woodshop.

“With Jesus and Harrison Ford, I’m one of the three big showbiz carpenters,” the “Parks and Recreation” star recently joked during an interview for “CBS Mornings.”  

He started his first commercial woodshop in his home state of Illinois and found that his woodworking skills were invaluable when he moved out west to pursue his dream of acting.

“I sort of put myself into a difficult situation…on the edge of poverty by choice so that I could continue to try and audition for acting jobs,” he explained. “I was so grateful that I learned that I could make a living by making things out of wood with my hands. I built decks and cabins for people. And so, that allowed me, you know, to be my own boss.”

Life lessons and woodworking

Offerman’s known for portraying characters who are rugged and self-reliant – like Ron Swanson in “Parks and Recreation” and survivalist Bill in the HBO series “The Last of Us.” But away from the screen, he knows that most of us could use a helping hand.

That’s why Offerman teamed up with Would Works, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that teaches at-risk Angelenos woodworking skills that can be parlayed into a job in relevant fields, like construction, set-building and carpentry.

Connor Johnson founded Would Works in 2012 after working as a case manager at a homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles. Underserved young adults between ages 18 to 30 years old are often referred to Would Works from various L.A. organizations.

“Our Artisans often face multiple barriers to employment; including housing insecurity, justice involvement, mental or physical health challenges, along with institutional factors such as hiring discrimination and systemic racism. Would Works provides a flexible, creative, and trauma informed space for anyone who Would Work if they could, to (re)engage with employment,” the nonprofit states on its website.

Would Works Program Director Michele Liu says the goal of the program is to place participants in full-time jobs where they can use the abilities they’ve picked up in the woodshop. For those who may have little to no experience in the workplace, the skills learned can be a lot more fundamental – such as how to get along with coworkers.

“For some people that’s what’s needed in their lives…or for some people it’s about developing core skills. For some people it is about developing the hard skills,” said Liu, adding that the space is welcome to anyone and participants can “get what they need out of it.”

Would Works sells products like cheese and charcuterie boards, utensils and stools, all made by trainees, to help fund the program.

A place filled with “warm humanism”

Former participants like Tim Jordan, who now sits on the nonprofit’s board, credit the experience with changing their lives around.

Jordan says the program taught him a handful of lessons and life skills.

“Its taught me how to work in a team. Its taught me how to work together to finish a project. It’s taught me also how to get into something new but not getting intimidated and pretty much quit,” Jordan said.

He has taken that practical knowledge and hands-on training into his current job, working in a furniture store, where he feels confident to talk about the products with a lot more authority thanks to his time as a Would Works trainee.

Offerman, who also sits on Would Works board, and uses his profile to help fundraise for the group, calls it an organization of empathy.

Aside from the woodworking itself, Offerman says he loves the “incredibly benevolent and warm humanism going on” at Would Works.

“We’re giving people … mental health, counseling, job counseling, life coaching. It’s a place to say, ‘Come on in, I see you, I care about you, I recognize the trouble you might be having. Here’s a sandwich, here’s a bowl of soup. Now, this is a hand plane,'” Offerman said.