Youth in need in Jackson, AL? Contact us.
A Better Road is Still Possible.
Restoration Hall Inc. helps young men ages 13–18 develop the coping skills, confidence, life skills, financial knowledge, and pathways to opportunities that lead to positive choices and build better futures.
Based in Jackson, Alabama, serving young men across Clarke County through mentoring, practical education, professional support, and experiences that help them see, and prepare for, what is possible.
This Ain't What You Want.
Intervention before the system becomes their future
This Ain't What You Want is Restoration Hall's signature youth intervention and mentoring program.
Led by founder, Ted Watkins, the program helps young men recognize the consequences of destructive choices while developing practical skills for handling the challenges they face today.
Our priorities are supporting young men and equipping them with skills to manage:
✓ Anger and conflict
✓ Stress and pressure
✓ Difficult decisions
✓ Emotions and reactions
✓ Peer influence
✓ Consequences and accountability
Through structured mentoring, the CAST curriculum, positive adult guidance, counseling support, and real-life learning, young men practice healthier ways to respond when life puts them under pressure.
Meet the Founder
Ted Watkins
He Doesn't Just Tell Them.
Ted Watkins doesn't speak to young men from textbook theory. He speaks from a life he's actually lived.
He’s a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, a pastor, business owner, and man who has been clean from crack cocaine and alcohol for more than twenty-two years.
Ted knows what it means when situations trigger something inside you and the choices you make takes your life in the wrong direction. And he knows what it takes to rebuild your life because he's done it.
From rock bottom to founding Restoration Hall. He’s a man with a vision, who supports his community.
He created This Ain't What You Want, Juvenile Intervention Program, because he's seen where that road leads. He can look a young man in the eyes and speak honestly about where certain choices can lead. But his story doesn’t end with the warning.
His life is also proof that your past does not have to determine your future.
Restoration Hall exists so young men in crisis has options…they do not have to learn every lesson the hard way.
“I started the juvenile intervention program “This Ain’t What You Want” because it only leads to hell, jail, or the grave. There’s nothing else that drugs and alcohol can do for a person. ”
This bus carries a message before it carries a single passenger. Every young man who steps on board hears it: This Ain't What You Want. It's the first lesson and it's just the beginning.
The Warning Is Only the Beginning.
“This Ain’t What You Want” is the warning. Restoration Hall’s work is what comes next...helping young men build the coping skills, support, practical knowledge, and opportunities for a better tomorrow.
Coping, Mentoring & Emotional Support
Before a young man can build what comes next, he needs practical tools for what he is facing now, whether that's anger, stress, conflict, pressure, emotions, and difficult decisions.
Coping, Mentoring & Positive Choices
Weekly support focused on anger management, stress, conflict, decision-making, accountability, and healthier responses to pressure.
Counseling & Emotional Wellness
Professional support that helps young men understand emotions, strengthen coping strategies, and manage difficult situations before they become crises.
Life Skills & Leadership
Hands-on preparation for adulthood: communication, responsibility, organization, goal-setting, personal presentation, life skills, and leadership.
Skills, Opportunity & A Path Forward
Restoration Hall helps young men turn stability into progress by building financial capability, exploring careers and skilled trades, and learning how opportunity is created.
Financial Literacy
A three-month learning cycle with professional instruction, individual tools, and practical actions participants complete between monthly sessions.
Education, Careers & Skilled Trades
Connections to education, career exploration, skilled trades, workforce preparation, employers, and training opportunities beyond Jackson.
Entrepreneurship & Business Skills
Real-world learning in planning, budgeting, pricing, setup, customer service, cleanup, and evaluating a small business activity.
Opportunity Can Be Miles Away.
For young men in rural Clarke County, the next opportunity may be in Thomasville, Mobile, or somewhere else entirely. Restoration Hall's van helps bridge that distance—connecting youth to education, skilled-trades training, employers, colleges, cultural experiences, and other opportunities they may not otherwise reach.
We don't just tell young men that opportunities exist. We help them get there.
Refer a Young Man
Restoration Hall is not only for young men who are already in trouble. Parents, guardians, schools, churches, community organizations, and juvenile-services professionals can contact us to learn whether the program may be a fit.
REFER OR ASK A QUESTIONGet Involved
Mentors, educators, employers, churches, businesses, and community partners can share time, knowledge, experiences, connections, and opportunities with the young men Restoration Hall serves.
GET INVOLVEDInvest in the Work
Your support helps provide mentoring, counseling, life-skills training, financial education, meals and snacks, transportation, and access to opportunities that help young men move forward.
DONATEContact Us
Complete the form to initiate a conversation about helping a young man currently in need, ways you can volunteer, and donate to close the financial gaps.