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The amphibious philosopher Kermit the Frog lamented “It’s Not Easy Being Green.” Though referring to his skin, he could have been alluding to environmental upkeep. Since last winter, students at two area community centers have been proving the latter need not pose any difficulty.
Set to begin its fourth cohort Monday, the Neighborhood Green Job Readiness Partnership — through state and federal funding — offers participants at the Mamie Nichols Center, 1529 S. 22nd St., and the Houston Community Center, 2029 S. Eighth St., means to learn about and acquire green jobs. Once in a cycle, learners receive nine weeks of contextualized instruction in reading and mathematics and interact with potential employers.
Attendees split time between the sites, spending Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Nichols Center and Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Houston Center. Instruction lasts from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and provides literacy and mathematical lessons that assist in their mastery of the facets of green jobs. Students also discover how to craft résumés, cover letters and e-mails, and they engage in mock interviews.
David Dennis, of 22nd and Wharton streets, participated in the most recent cohort, which held its commencement ceremony Oct. 7 at the Dixon House, 1920 S. 20th St.
“I had been involved in auto work, mostly collision repair, but the hours were not great, and neither was the pay. I want something more,” Dennis said.
His main wish is to earn Building Performance Institute certification, which he began pursuing Tuesday at North Philadelphia-based Energy Coordinating Agency [ECA].
Initial funding allowed for the initiative to choose people outside of the area. Because of that, Germantown resident Deborah Brown joined the second cohort in April. A former tailor and dressmaker, she found her work “monotonous” and craved employment that would sustain her interest and the environment.
“I am now involved with [Northeast Philadelphia-based] Maxwell Education Group as part of its Solar Panel Insulation Training,” she said.
A May 2009 collaborative of 21 of the world’s largest foundations and financial institutions awarded a $250,000 grant to the Center City-based Job Opportunity Investment Network [JOIN] to prepare job seekers for clean energy sector employment. The Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, a Center City nonprofit organization and one of the network’s founding partners, received the task of overseeing the grant, calling on the Center-City based Federation of Neighborhood Centers to manage the initiative.
Last January, the Department of Labor issued “Pathways Out of Poverty” grants, allocating $150 million for green jobs training as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of ’09. Philadelphia, along with four other cities, became enrolled in a two-year, $8 million project, adding additional funds to the previous year’s agreement.
The Federation provides funding to Diversified Community Services, which includes the Nichols Center and three other facilities, and the United Communities of Southeast Philadelphia, which assists the Houston Center, an additional community center and three area public schools. It began its first cohort at the end of January and will offer a total of eight by this time next year.
“Having these centers relatively close together made choosing them as sites easy,” Jerry Tapley, director of operations for the federation, said.
A partnership with Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital offers screenings for diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol and counsels students on managing their health as they conduct their studies and job searches. Most importantly, perhaps, they practice their possible vocations through Home Sense, a Houston Center activity through which they gain skills in home repairs and carpentry.
Yolanda Solis, Anja LeBlanc and BJ McDuffie handle the instruction. Solis, a Diversified Community Services employee, provides literacy and mathematics instruction, familiarizing students with the terms and formulas they will encounter when working in energy efficiency, building retrofit, green construction, renewable energy or weatherization. She also improves soft skills, those personal attributes and interpersonal abilities, such as responsibility and sociability, that often land people jobs.
LeBlanc, a self-professed “connector,” refreshes job search skills. An employment and training liaison for the federation, she gives computer instruction involving e-mail and employer research. While she and Solis keep learners’ brains active, McDuffie, director of community development for United Communities, gives their muscles a workout with the home repair and carpentry aspects they perfect at a gutted rowhome near the Houston Center.
“We use a toolbox system of curricula to reflect the different needs and interests of the students,” Tapley said.
To gauge the preliminary skills of those students, Solis issues the Tests of Adult Basic Education, three multiple choice evaluations of one’s skills in reading comprehension, applied mathematics and math computations. She found that the 48 total students increased their reading scores by two grade levels and their math marks by three grade levels.
“This program has become all about taking ownership of the knowledge,” Solis said.
Doing so has meant learners have increased their confidence and have begun to receive feedback from additional training programs and employees.
Having spent time in construction, Gus Frio, of Broad Street and Oregon Avenue, had some loose connection with green industries but a firm hold on math. Courtesy of the initiative, he has added friends and confidence to his life.
“I have earned a great sense of accomplishment,” Frio, who has interest in weatherization and air conditioning and refrigeration training, said.
Frio started at ECA Tuesday. He and the others have also been able to depart with solid work portfolios and network cards detailing their skills and any honors and awards they have received.
Tapley noted all future cohorts will involve only local residents. As funding runs through Jan. ’12, he already is thinking of increasing the program’s scope.
“We are looking to expand our options, possibly including a program geared directly to women,” he said. “Everyone sees real possibilities because of this unique model.”
Those interested must be at least 18, pass a drug screening, achieve at least a sixth-grade level on the initial assessments, commit for a minimum of nine weeks of class and up to a total of six months, including subsequent job-specific training. They must attend one information session either every other Tuesday at the Nichols Center or every other Friday at Houston Center. For further details, they should call 215-336-1111 ext. 100 or e-mail Tapley at jerryt@federationnc.org.
“We are interested not in where people come from but in where they are now,” LeBlanc said of fears students may have about their competence.
“People should come without hesitation. They should not worry about their past. We are here to help with their future,” McDuffie said. SPR
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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