NORTH BROOKFIELD, Mass. - Henry Thomas was 14 years old when he first went to Camp Atwater. The North Brookfield site is one of the country's first African-American residential summer camps, opening more than a century ago.

"I got confidence out here," Thomas said. "You know, when I'm racing a guy from Philly, he's supposed to be bad, you know? I said you know, I'm bad!"

Almost 60 years later, Thomas is the CEO of the camp which he said helped him become a man. While others have grown here, Camp Atwater started to show its age.

"Sometimes it gets overwhelming, and that's why you bring the unions in," Thomas said.

The help of local carpenters and painters unions is giving this piece of local history a fresh look to make sure it's around for generations to come.

"A hundred years ago, there was no place for us or my ancestors to go to have camp," said Fred Taylor, business representative for Carpenters Union Local 336. "So, that's what makes this so special."

New roofs, new paint, and a ton of elbow grease is going into restoring the landmark. And while the workers lend a helping hand to the camp, it's also returning the favor.

Daniel Stevenson is one of many students from Job Corps recruited to help work here. He said he wasn’t able to keep paying for college once the COVID-19 pandemic started, and was introduced to Job Corps by his brother. This job changed how he feels about his trade.

"A lot of the carpentry work I've done so far since I've been here, I like it way more than I thought I would," Stevenson said. "As soon as I got here and started working, getting the hands on doing the roof, it was just like, 'Wow, this is good work right here. I like doing this.'"

"Getting out in the field, getting outside of the shops, seeing how things are done, getting our hands dirty, that's what we do," said Dave Perry of the Grafton Job Corps.

Stevenson and his fellow students have been working on the property for months, and expect to finish some time in the next week, returning it to its former glory, just like when Thomas was there.

"I think we have a right to be proud," Thomas said. "We celebrate, but we don't relax because we know things don't just happen for you because you want them to happen. You have to do things to make it happen."