A couple weeks ago somebody called me up asking if Eco Brooklyn wanted free interns. I said no because nothing is free and didn’t want the extra responsibility. But then I found it it was the International Center for the Disabled , an almost one hundred year old institution that does some wonderful work helping under employed people get back on track with career advice and training.
Then I started thinking. They wanted to place the interns in a construction environment so they could learn basic construction. But what if they learned green building. It would put them so far ahead of the game.
I saw it as a wonderful opportunity to help the community. So I proposed it to them and they were excited by the idea too.
Maria Jacobson, Director of Vocational Services, and Ruth Kaluski, Associate Director, came out to the green show house in Brooklyn and liked what they saw. I went to their building in Manhattan to see their training facilities and meet students and I liked what I saw.
By now we were all very excited.
We are creating an Eco Brooklyn Green Certification Program in partnership with ICD. Students will take the basic construction training at the ICD headquarters then they will come to the green job site and get another certificate training in green building.
It is all experimental and we will tweak the process as we go. But the spirit is there. The students are excited, the directors are excited.
Next week two students come for a week as a pilot program…if that works out we will expand the program duration and numbers.