Contact: Roy Seneca seneca.roy@epa.gov (215) 814-5567
EPA Selects Delaware's West End Neighborhood House
For $200,000 Brownfields Job Training Grant
EPA designates a total of $3.3 million for job training nationwide
PHILADELPHIA (May 7, 2018) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the West End Neighborhood House in Wilmington, Delaware was selected to receive a $200,000 Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) grant to train 60 students for environmental careers.
The non-profit AmeriCorps program is one of 17 organizations nationwide that were selected to receive a total of approximately $3.3 million in Brownfields job training funds to help residents learn the skills needed to secure employment in the environmental field. These grants help prepare people for green jobs that reduce environmental contamination and provide more sustainable futures for the communities most affected by solid and hazardous waste contamination.
"Through these Brownfields job training programs, we're investing in getting Americans back to work and improving local economies and the environment," said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. "Graduates will acquire the skill set necessary to gain full-time employment in the environmental field and help revitalize their communities."
"It is important to ensure that the benefits of brownfields redevelopment go to people who live in communities near brownfields sites," said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. "This requires educating a workforce in the skill sets needed for the jobs being created, which means working with local partners like the West End Neighborhood House to recruit, train, and place residents in good paying, green jobs in environmental fields."
Participants who complete the training will earn seven state or federal certifications. West End Neighborhood House is targeting underemployed and unemployed residents of Wilmington neighborhoods most impacted by brownfields.
"The Environmental Workforce Job Development Training Program has truly changed the lives of Delawareans," said Program Director Julie Bieber of the Education & Employment Department at
West End Neighborhood House. "The program fulfills the needs of local employers, empowers and educates the community, and improves the lives of in-need citizens by training them in careers with a sustainable living wage. The program is truly a win-win for both the environmental industry and the members of our community."
EPA continues to support the EWDJT program to help put people to work by building a skilled workforce across the country. The program awards competitive grants to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit, train and place unemployed and underemployed individuals. Individuals completing the training have often overcome a variety of barriers to employment. Many are from low-income neighborhoods. The training programs also serve dislocated workers who have lost their jobs due to plant closures, minorities, tribal members, transitioning veterans, ex-offenders and other individuals who may have faced barriers to employment.
Since 1998, when the EWDJT grant program started, more than 288 grants have been awarded. Over 17,100 individuals have completed training, and of those, more than 12,500 individuals have been placed in full-time employment earning an average starting wage of over $14 an hour. This equates to a cumulative job placement rate of 73 percent of graduates.
For more information on EWDJT grantees, including past EWDJT grantees, please visit: https://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/.
For more information on EPA's EWDJT program, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029 United States
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