news-record.com

Two community organizations — one established in Greensboro’s black community and a new group of young socially-conscious adults — will partner to educate the public about green jobs opportunities.

The Beloved Community Center and Face to Face Greensboro will hold an event called “Green Jobs Plus Low-Income Families: A Community Investment” on Nov. 23 in the East White Oak neighborhood. Participants will hear about the work being done in the city to provide job training in the areas of weatherization, renewable energy and sustainability.

“The ultimate goal is to get people to work,” said Ashley Watkins, a founding member of the 8-month-old Face to Face.

Green jobs has become a ticket to meaningful employment for many people since the U.S. entered a recession in late 2007. An advisory group has recommended that the city of Greensboro spend some of its stimulus money from the U.S. Department of Energy on green jobs training. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also awarded the city about $511,000 this summer for green projects.

The Beloved Community Center received $23,000 of those funds to train three people in historic preservation and repair windows in its homeless hospitality house. The center also trains people to grow food in its vegetable garden and has developed a network of local contractors, agencies, community organizers and educators working to create green jobs, particularly in the low-income minority neighborhoods of East Greensboro.

Joseph Frierson, a staff coordinator at the Beloved Community Center, said they want the government funds to have a lasting effect in the city.
“It’s our thinking that if these (stimulus) dollars are used the way they’ve been used they won’t help low-income communities build wealth or create sustainable jobs,” he said. “We want these communities to live past the stimulus jobs.”