U.S. EPA Job Training Program
                                  Groundwork Providence
                                         Providence, RI
                                                                                        CHANGING PLACES
                                                                                        CHANGING LIVES
Overview: Groundwork Providence is an environmental and community development nonprofit serving northern
Rhode Island. Groundwork encourages local residents to make a difference in their communities by engaging
them in projects that improve the places where they live, work and play. More specifically, Groundwork seeks to
                                              recruit and train chronically unemployed and underemployed
                                              members of communities affected by environmental
                                              contamination to help transform blight into clean, community-
                                              friendly businesses, green space and affordable housing.
Core Curriculum
 OSHA-40 hour HAZWOPER
 OSHA-10 hour Construction Safety Training
 First AID/CPR
 Lead Supervisor/Contractor
 Asbestos Supervisor/Contractor
 Mold Remediation Worker
 70-hour Contextualized Brownfield Remediation
 Curriculum
 20-hour Hands-on, Work-readiness Assessment
 Project	
 Program Partners
 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Rhode
 Island Department of Environmental Management,
 Community College of Rhode Island, City of
 Providence, U.S. Department of Labor	
                                              Groundwork received a 2010 U.S. EPA Brownfields Job
                                              Training Grant, which provided $200,000 to further the
                                              development of an Adult Environmental Job Training
                                              Program to help educate and train residents in need of
                                              employment. The program was developed in partnership with
                                              representatives from the environmental industry, community
                                              groups, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental
                                              Management, the Rhode Island Department of Health, and the
                                              Community College of Rhode Island.

                                              The job training program is comprised of four cycles, with 15
                                              participants in each cycle, and has a core curriculum that is
designed to help graduates transition into a variety of careers in the environmental field. The program was
designed using the combined expertise and lessons learned from Groundwork Providence's past Adult Job
Training programs, best practices developed by local partners, and Job Training Providers across the country.
Although program efforts have been extended to all of the communities along the Blackstone River Corridor,
where centers for poverty and high concentrations of contaminated property are located,  students enrolled in the
program are predominantly from Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Woonsocket.

Participants: Groundwork Providence recruits highly motivated
unemployed, underemployed, and dislocated workers from low-
income populations in the surrounding communities with an emphasis
on helping disadvantaged minorities, veterans and ex-offenders. In
order to fulfill the requirements for program eligibility, the applicant
must have at least a high school degree, be able to pass a drug test and
complete a 20 hour work-readiness evaluation project. The applicants
that are selected have a clear understanding of, and strong interest in,
careers in hazardous materials handling and clean-up before beginning
the program.                                                        Photo provided by Groundwork Providence.

Outcomes: Groundwork Providence began their Brownfield Remediation Job  Training in 2002. In order to
increase the success of the program, Groundwork uses all partnerships and resources  available to provide a One-
Stop Career Center for program graduates and employers. To date, over 120 training graduates have been placed
in jobs ranging from temporary crew positions on remediation projects to full-time, salaried positions with
remediation contractors. With the support of the EPA, Groundwork hopes to train sixty additional graduates for
careers in the environmental field while continuing to create and sustain healthy, green communities.
March 2011
                          Local Contact: Sheri Lupoli* (401) 351-6440* slupoli@groundworkprovidence.org
                          Region 1 EPA Contact: Kathy Castagna* (617) 918-1429* Castagna.Kathleen@epa.gov

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