Tri-CED to Launch New Youth Training Program and Education Center

A local recycling plant is doing its part to make Union City a greener community with the upcoming launch of a collaborative youth training and recycling program.

Slated to launch by the end of the year, ’s “Green Team” program is a partnership between the recycling plant, educational institutions and mentors to help teach and train local youth employed by Tri-CED.

Through the program, participants will not only learn and employ environmental practices, but receive life skills and career training.

“We don’t want these to be dead-end jobs. We want them (youth employees) to move on, both vocationally and educationally,” said Richard Valle, CEO of Tri-CED during a presentation at last week’s City Council meeting.

Program partners include the , Chabot College and the Cypress Mandela Training Center, a pre-apprenticeship construction trade school in Oakland. Through Cypress Mandela, Green Team members will be able to receive certificates and access careers in a variety of construction trades.

Nancy George, director of the New Haven Adult School, said staff will assess Green Team participants in order to develop a curriculum tailored to their needs.

Training will be provided to 16 new hires in 2012 and will be paid for in part by a Workforce Investment Board grant to employ disadvantaged youth and provide wraparound services to help them move forward, Valle said. Tri-CED is known for employing at-risk local youth.

Pastor Jerome Brown of the Brown Temple Church, who mentors at-risk youth via the city’s , will also provide mentorship to Tri-CED employees.

As part of the first year of the pilot program, four youth employees will be hired to distribute community education materials, speak with residents and lead recycling education fairs and activities for kids. The team will also pick up recycling containers at apartments, condos and other mutli-family units.

“When you go to work, you can leave your recyclables at the doorstep and we’ll take it for you,” Valle said.

Several local youth have already been hired for the program.

Richard Gonzalez, 21, said he spent the last several months searching for a job. He went to and the Youth and Family Services, where he was linked to Tri-CED.

“It’s really a blessing for me,” he said. “I was looking for a job for months. Plain and simple, my prayers were answered.”

Also a Green Team hire, Kathleen Woodrich, 18, said she is looking forward to the opportunity.

“I really like and admire what Tri-CED represents and what they do in the community,” she said. Working with Tri-CED will be her first job, she said.

With the program comes a new Education Center where training and instruction will be held.

The energy-efficient 2,000 square foot building will be built on the Tri-CED property in December or early 2012 and shared with the community, Valle said.

At Tri-CED’s Education Center, presentations about the environment will be provided to the public. The recycling company is also partnering with Dr. Joyce Blueford to design a curriculum that explains recycling in Union City to k-5 students. The curriculum will be available to students and other groups that tour Tri-CED.

“The most important part of our programs is working together,” Valle said. “We want to contribute back to the community.”