Class of 2024 Environmental Career Worker Training Program

The Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP) wrapped up the year with a culmination activity on April 6, 2024. The twelve-week, no cost training included fundamental and technical skills, as well as a refresher Math course. Additionally, program participants explored topics areas of environmental justice that highlights the injustices communities of color face, such as the case with the Cancer Alley in Kashmere Gardens, and the air pollution plaguing the Sunnyside community. Hands-on training in hazardous materials and hazardous waste materials made for an exciting and rewarding experience as each participant earned a certification in both components.

These certifications and trainings, coupled with previous transferable skills, prepared trainees for successful careers in environmental remediation and hazardous waste cleanup. Trainees who have chosen these fields as a career choice have a chance at earning upwards of $20 per hour as an entry-level technician.

The trainees also obtained a license in Asbestos and Lead abatement worker license issued by the Texas Department of State Health Services, an OSHA 10 card, and additional certificates in Community Emergency Response Training (CERT), Weatherization and Basic Construction. Trainees received payment assistance to secure a Transportation Worker Identification CARD (TWIC), Basic Plus, which includes information on general safety rules, regulations, practices, and principles associated with the construction and contract maintenance/services industry, along with Safety Essentials Elements Confined Space (Houston Area Safety Council).

Overall, the project provides comprehensive support to each trainee. In addition to the technical skills training, program participants are assisted with resume writing, and computer skills. Due to the physical demands of the participants’ future careers, a six-week physical fitness exercise and on-site individual and group counseling sessions are also included. These activities prepare program participants both physically and mentally by gaining a sense of real-world expectations of labor in the field as environmental technicians, remediation technicians, emergency response technicians, and in the field of construction.

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