INDIANAPOLIS — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announcing the selection of 19 organizations nationwide to receive a total of $3,797,102 in grants for job training programs across the country, including organizations in Chicago, Milwaukee and Indianapolis. In Indianapolis, Recycle Force was tapped for the project and will receive approximately $200,000.
Funded through the Agency’s Brownfields Job Training Program, these grants provide funding to organizations that are working to create a skilled workforce in communities where assessment, cleanup, and preparation of brownfield sites for reuse activities are taking place. Individuals completing a job training program funded by EPA often overcome a variety of barriers to employment. Many of these individuals are from historically underserved neighborhoods and reside in the areas affected by environmental justice issues.
Rather than filling local jobs with contractors from distant cities, these organizations provide training and offer residents of communities historically affected by environmental pollution, economic disinvestment, and brownfields an opportunity to gain the skills and certifications needed to secure local environmental work in their communities. Individuals typically graduate with a variety of certifications that improve their marketability and help ensure that employment opportunities are not just temporary contractual work, but long-term careers.