![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
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.