The City of Chicago is committed to improving our local environment and strives to be the greenest city in the nation. In September of 2008, we released the Chicago Climate Action Plan - CCAP (www.chicagoclimateaction.org) that describes the significant effects climate change could have on our city along with how to address those challenges. CCAP’s key focus areas include energy efficient buildings, clean and renewable energy sources, improved transportation options, reduced waste and industrial pollution and adaptation. The Chicago Department of Environment (CDOE) worked with partners to develop two new green job programs: Community Green Jobs and Green Job Work Experience. These two programs will provide more than 250 new, community-based green jobs for the low-to-moderate income, hard-to-employ individuals, including the formerly incarcerated, over the next two years (2010-2011). Eleven agencies were competitively-selected and approved by City Council to help implement the Green Job Work Experience and Community Green Jobs programs. The eleven agencies are listed on the back of this page.

Green Job Work Experience funding will support the City’s Greencorps Chicago program and a similar year-round ex-offender, green job training program at the Safer Foundation. Started in 1994, Greencorps has served more than 300 hard-to-employ Chicagoans and thousands of community gardeners. It has recently expanded into home weatherization, electronics recycling and tree care. The program will fund green job training programs serving low-to-moderate income populations in waste reduction, pollution prevention, community horticulture, sustainable landscaping, tree care, local agriculture, home weatherization, and other related fields. The Greencorps Chicago program will grow to 60 participants in 2010 and 80 in 2011. The second program will support 25 participants per year (50 total) in a similar year-round program with Safer Foundation’s Safer Return, Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance and Christy Webber Landscaping. Safer’s crews will work primarily in the Garfield Park Community and will serve ex-offenders re-entering this community.

To read the full press release, click here.

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