A Machine Shop Where New Skills Open New Doors
At a machine shop in southeastern San Diego, apprentices are making parts for customers—and building careers after prison. Rise Up Industries pairs paid machining training with tutoring, therapy, and practical support, giving participants room to learn a demanding trade and find their footing in the community.
The work has a purpose beyond the classroom. Apprentices help fill orders for everything from medical devices and aerospace equipment to bicycle parts and fishing lures. For men who have faced steep barriers to employment after incarceration, each completed job is a chance to gain experience and confidence.
Komisi Savaiinaea was unsure he belonged in the shop when he first arrived. After more than two decades in prison, he had never worked with machining equipment. Meeting apprentices who had also started from scratch helped him see what was possible. He completed the program and now supervises others on the shop floor.
“So it allows me to continue my learning and be of service to others,” Komisi says.
That encouragement mattered to Anthony Walkens, a current apprentice who felt overwhelmed on his first day. “But the welcome I got here from people like Komisi, it reassured me that I would be able to do this,” he says.
Rise Up chose CNC machining in part because San Diego employers need skilled manufacturing workers, Executive Director Jonathan Yackley says. But the organization’s approach reaches beyond technical instruction. Its apprentices can also receive help with education, case management, and behavioral health—support intended to make a new career sustainable.
“Over the years, we have learned that technical training alone is not enough,” Yackley says. In Komisi, he sees what can happen when someone has both an opportunity to develop skills and a community in which to use them.
Walkens describes the atmosphere simply: “It’s really a beautiful place,” he says, “kind of like a family setting.”
