Brownfields Success Stories

Giving Disadvantaged Residents an Advantage

Young Community Developers, Inc., in San Francisco, California, was selected for a Job Training Pilot in 1999 and received a $179,715 two-year grant. EPA's Job Training Pilot program targets low-income and otherwise disadvantaged residents, with a emphasis on individuals receiving welfare and participating in federal, state, and/or local Welfare-to-Work programs. The Young Community Developers Pilot targets the Bayview Hunters Point community of San Francisco, which is home to 25,000 residents and surrounded by approximately 120 brownfields sites. To encourage attendance, enhance focus, and foster community pride and self-worth, the Pilot uses several unique training methods. One such method is an intensive pre-screening orientation program, including a strict regimen in which potential trainees must participate in calisthenics in the early morning hours. Trainees are also required to engage in activities such as neighborhood cleanup days and community barbeques. To date, the Job Training Pilot has completed one 288-hour environmental technician training cycle and has graduated 24 participants. All of the 24 graduates are employed and earning an average of $20 per hour. Two of the employed graduates are working with phytoremediation, an innovative cleanup technology, at a site targeted by the San Francisco Brownfields Assessment Pilot. The Pilot is currently conducting a second training cycle consisting of 22 participants. The Pilot has successfully secured partnerships with numerous groups, such as universities and colleges, unions, and private companies and has leveraged approximately $173,000 in funds and resources. With these partnerships and leveraged resources additional services have been made available, including instructor training, participant transportation services, career counseling services, and child care. For more information on the Young Community Developers, Inc., Job Training Pilot, contact EPA Region 9 at (415) 744-2191.