Worker Training and Job Readiness Program
Good jobs are essential for a healthy community, to ensure that residents can thrive instead of merely survive. Since relaunching and expanding its free Worker Training Program in 2012, WE ACT has trained more than 2,000 unemployed or underemployed Northern Manhattan residents for careers in the construction industry. Construction remains one of the most viable fields of employment in New York City, which is why we have focused on providing the training needed to earn the costly certificates that are required to enter this field. Our program includes training certificates for 30-hour OSHA safety, solar photovoltaic installation, BPI training, and flagging & scaffolding.
Many thanks to West Harlem Development Corporation
for generously supporting our Worker Training Program
We have also started a Worker Training Working Group to help those in the program better prepare for entering the job market. And this has led to the formation of a Northern Manhattan Solar Cooperative to help our trainees become entrepreneurs in the fast-growing solar field. Contact Charles Callaway at charles@weact.org for more information.
Click here to see testimonials from local residents who have participated in our Worker Training and Job Readiness program.
Jose Pichardo, Graduate & Member
Fresh out of prison and looking for an opportunity to turn his life around, Jose learned about WE ACT’s Worker Training Program and saw it as a pathway to not only steady work but a career in construction. In his words, our training program gave him the three things he needed to achieve this goal: “Motivation, Certification, & Opportunity.” Jose completed the 30-hour OSHA, Building Performance Institute, and Solar Installation training classes and has been working in construction ever since. In fact, he was recently promoted to foreman and does his best to hire others who have been through our worker training program.
Willie Russell, Graduate & Member
Willie was looking to break into the construction industry, where a number of his friends had found steady work. But he lacked the costly certifications required to get even an entry level job. His friends told him about WE ACT’s Worker Training Program, where he could get the training he needed to earn these certificates for free. Willie took all three of our classes, earning his 30-hour OSHA, Building Performance Institute, & Solar Installation certificates. He has been working in construction and is active in developing our solar co-operative, so he and his fellow solar trainees can create more opportunities for work – for themselves as well as other Solar Installation graduates.
Ken Pipersburg, Graduate & Member
“WE ACT’s Worker Training Program helped me to get an OSHA 30 certificate, which led to a permanent, union job with Amtrak.” Click here to see more testimonials from our Worker Training and Job Readiness program.