The Atlanta BeltLine partnered with the Center for Working Families to recruit and train five residents in construction in early 2013, and another five in July, for a total of ten graduates from the Greenworks program. The Center for Working Families provided six weeks of basic construction, OSHA, CPR, trenching, and introduction to heavy equipment operation training through an Environmental Protection Agency Greenworks grant. Atlanta BeltLine recruited, screened, and helped place residents from Atlanta BeltLine neighborhoods.
Four out of five of the first round of students were immediately placed in jobs after graduation from the program. The students’ stories are varied, but hardship was a common theme in their backgrounds. Two were veterans who had received honorable discharges. One young woman had left with an injury and was unable to find employment after service. Because of her own hard work with the program and her Level 3 OSHA training, she was able to find employment in construction. Another individual, also a veteran, obtained work as a machine operator as a result of the OSHA certification and heavy machine training he completed at Georgia Perimeter. A third individual is already on track for a promotion as a Parts Manager with an auto shop following completion of the program, after six months without any interview leads.
Of the most recent round of graduates, two have already been placed. Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. and the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency are helping to place the remaining graduates.
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