ŁEPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-229
June 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Brownfields Success Stories
Giving Disadvantaged Residents
an Advantage
YDUNG COMMUNITY DEVELOPERS
n San Francisco, California, an environmental Job Training Pilot
grant awarded by EPA to Young Community Developers, Inc. is
providing much-needed opportunities for disadvantaged local resi-
dents. With its first job training cycle completed, the Pilot pro-
gram has already put all of its 24 graduates to work in high-paying
environmental jobs, two of which involve restoring the area's
brownfields. Through partnerships with numerous local and state
entities, the Job Training Pilot program has already leveraged
$173,000 in funds and resources, which has enabled the program
to provide participants with unique incentives and training services.
To date, EPA has awarded 37 Job Training and Development Dem-
onstration Pilots across the country. The purpose of these Pilots
is to facilitate cleanup of brownfield sites and prepare trainees for
a career in the environmental field. Young Community Develop-
ers, Inc., was selected as a Job Training Pilot in 1999 and received
a $179,715 two-year grant.
The Job Training Pilot targets the Bayview Hunters Point com-
munity of San Francisco, which is home to 25,000 residents and
surrounded by approximately 120 brownfields sites. Historically
an African American neighborhood, Bayview Hunters Point has
continued ^
JUSTTHE FACTS:
EPA's Brownfields Job Training Pilot, awarded
by EPA to Young Community Developers,
Inc., targets disadvantaged residents of the
Bayview Hunters Point community of San
Francisco.
Several recruiting techniques, such as
conducting community forums, distributing
flyers, and working with recruitment
specialists, are used to encourage
participation.
To date, the Job Training Pilot has completed
one 288-hour environmental technician
training cycle, graduating 24 participants that
are already earning an average of $20 per hour.
In addition to securing commitments
from several local environmental firms
and construction companies to hire
graduates, the Job Training Pilot has
been designated responsible for
placing employees on all construction
projects within the Bayview Hunters
Point neighborhood.
EPA'S Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic
redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is
a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding:
assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup
and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of
communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for
the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities
with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental
cleanup, and redevelopment.
-------
CONTACTS:
Young Community Developers
(415)822-3491
EPA Region 9
(415)744-2191
Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
an unemployment rate of 16 percent and an average household in-
come two-thirds the city average. Considered one of the city's
poorest areas, Bayview Hunters Point has been designated a fed-
eral Enterprise Community.
The Job Training Pilot targets low-income and otherwise disad-
vantaged residents, with a emphasis on individuals receiving
welfare and participating in federal, state, and/or local Wel-
fare-to-Work programs. Several recruiting techniques, such as
conducting community forums, distributing flyers, and working
with recruitment specialists, are used to encourage participation.
The Job Training Pilot also relies on word-of-mouth from success-
ful graduates of the program. To date, the Young Community Devel-
opers, Inc. Job Training Pilot has completed one 288-hour environmental
technician training cycle, graduating 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.
In addition to securing commitments from several local environmental firms and construc-
tion companies to hire graduates, Young Community Developers, Inc., has been designated
responsible for placing employees on all construction projects within the Bayview Hunters
Point neighborhood. The Pilot also uses several unique training methods that are designed
to improve attendance and focus, as well as foster community pride and self-worth. One
such method is an intensive pre-screening orientation program, including a strict regimen
where potential trainees must participate in calisthenics in the early morning hours. Train-
ees are also required to engage in activities such as neighborhood cleanup days and com-
munity barbeques.
The Pilot has successfully secured partnerships with numerous groups, such as universities
and colleges, unions, and private companies, as well as leveraged approximately $ 173,000
in funds and resources. With these partnerships and leveraged resources additional ser-
vices have been made available, including instructor training, participant transportation ser-
vices, 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.
Brownfields Success Story
June 2001
Young Community Developers
EPA 500-F-01-229
------- |