“You make a decent amount of money in sales, but there’s no longevity in a recession,” said Walters,
23, who gained experience with renewable energy projects in the
Conservation Corps of Greater New Orleans. The group is dedicated to
helping the city recover from 2005’s devastating Hurricane Katrina.

“There’s
a lot of new construction going on here,” said Walters, whose
experience in the group earned him a full-time job with a company
installing solar thermal panels. “If you’re going to change things, New
Orleans is the place to do it, and you might as well do it right.”

With
support from the Corps Network, the city of New Orleans and a $5.8
million grant from the U.S. Labor Department, the New Orleans Corps has
helped put more than 800 people between the ages of 17 and 24 to work
on projects involving environmental stewardship, energy conservation
and historic restoration.

Many participants come to the program
after run-ins with the law. Some have spent time in jail. The program
requires participants to work four months with one of seven nonprofit
groups at an hourly wage of $8.55 and gives AmeriCorps college
scholarships worth as much as $1,250 to those who complete the program.

Over
15 months, the program has placed 75 percent of its graduates in
employment, secondary or post-secondary education, certification
programs, or the military.

On Friday, the corps celebrated its
achievements with a presentation allowing graduates to share their
projects with New Orleans communities they had served. “You’ve shown
commitment and leadership in helping restore and revitalize the Greater
New Orleans community,” Louisiana state Sen. Cheryl Gray Evans (D)
wrote in a letter to the corps. “You are helping lead the state of
Louisiana into this green economy. You are truly making the change we
want to see.”

The celebration also offered an opportunity to
request more funding. “The grant we’re using ends June 30, but we’re
hopeful local sectors or Labor can step up,” corps director Reed
Dickson said.

Walters’ work with the corps connected him with the
nonprofit Alliance for Affordable Energy, where he learned basic
construction skills and weatherized low-income housing. The goal was to
help residents save more than 15 percent on energy bills by
retrofitting their houses with insulation, radiant barriers and compact
fluorescent lights.

“We got to help a lot of people out and make some money,” Walters said.

After
his graduation, the alliance helped Walters get a job with South Coast
Solar, one of the largest solar companies in Louisiana. Within three
months, Walters will be qualified to be trained in photovoltaic
installations, South Coast Solar President Troy Von Otnott said.

Walters
now earns slightly less than what he made at his sales job, but he sees
more opportunity for specialized training and higher pay later.

“I’ve got a good outlook for the future,” he said.

Youth development, economic recovery

Walters’ case is not unusual at the corps, the group’s leaders say.

Another
recent graduate, Arreina Goudeau, recently began taking college
psychology courses while continuing her job with the GulfSouth Youth
Biodiesel Project, which converts cooking grease to motor fuels and
glycerin for soaps.

“I’m more motivated, dedicated and helping my
environment now,” said Goudeau, who earned her GED during her service
with the corps.

To be sure, a job that is environmentally sustainable isn’t necessarily economically viable.

Dickson,
the program’s director, said the corps is modeled after the
Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, which employed millions of
Americans between 1933 and 1942. Many of those jobs were in national
parks and forests.

“Green jobs are more economically viable than
they ever were before,” Dickson said. “Youth development goes hand in
hand with economic recovery.”

The only qualification youth must
meet to join the corps is at least a year of full-time work experience.
One day a week is dedicated to basic math, literacy and communications
skills.

Much of the program’s work in New Orleans is linked to
rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina, which devastated a
90,000-square-mile area and damaged more than 100,000 homes.

“In
New Orleans, we can see the green economy right before our eyes,”
Dickson said. “There’s a lot of discussion about whether green jobs
will persist, but our experience is that they are here now.”

Source : NY Times