Transcript:
An organization in California is preparing young people for careers in clean energy. And in the process, these young people help their neighbors save money on their utility bills.
Each summer, the Rising Sun Center for Opportunity, a workforce development group, hires young people in San Joaquin and the Bay Area to visit nearby homes and assess their water and energy efficiency.
Senior program manager Sofia Canela Torres says the center does not charge residents for these so-called green house calls.
Canela Torres: “We use this no-cost service that we provide to the community as a vehicle to provide the youth earn and learn experience and career exposure.”
Trainees also help some residents install new, efficient appliances like low-flow showerheads and LED lights and offer tips for saving energy and water.
Then after six weeks of making green house calls, trainees are placed with a company working on energy issues for more hands-on, paid experience.
Canela Torres: “For them to see, you know, what could it look like for me to be part of an organization like this?”
Canela Torres says this program helps young people build clean energy careers – and learn how they might use those careers to give back to their community.
Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media