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PHA Executive Director Carl Greene (left) shows HUD Deputy
Secretary Ron Sims one of the work areas at the PHA
Pre-Apprenticeship training program center where students learn to
install plumbing and kitchen cabinets. |
Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ron Sims saw
federal tax dollars at work during his visit to Philadelphia. He
joined Philadelphia Housing Authority Executive Director Carl
Greene on a driving tour of public housing sites and a visit to the
agency's acclaimed Pre-Apprenticeship training program.
PHA's Pre-Apprenticeship program, in coordination with
Philadelphia's building trades unions, is designed to prepare
public housing residents for entry into approved apprenticeships in
various trades. It provides students with academic, life skills and
vocational training.
Sims toured the classrooms, met students and got a first hand
look at the program's success when he met several graduates who
have entered PHA's work force as part of its innovative Maintenance
WAVE (Weatherization and Value Enhancement) crews.
Addressing the program graduates, PHA residents and others who
had gathered in South Philadelphia to meet him, Sims said, "I am
not allowed to say which is my favorite, so I will say this is one
of the more remarkable housing authorities in the country."
To the Pre-Apprenticeship students and graduates, he added, "We
look forward to seeing your skills, your talents and your
expertise. Not only are you builders, but we want you to own the
companies that are building as well."
During the visit, Executive Director Greene explained that the
program includes practical hands on training, that there has been a
focused effort to increase the number of female participants, and
that PHA strives to maintain a well balanced effort including life
skills and basic education training as well as post-graduation
follow up and mentoring.
"We want to produce graduates who are not only sound in the
building trades, but who have gained well-rounded skills that will
help them succeed at work and in life. And, this does not end when
they conclude the program. We remain in contact with the graduates,
providing job placement assistance and mentorship as they enter
their professional trades," Greene said.
Thus far, 601 residents have graduated from the program, 310 of
whom have entered the construction trades. These jobs are positions
at union scale wages with benefits, resulting from certified
apprenticeships in the building and construction trades program and
PHA's new partnership with industrial employment opportunities.
During the visit Sims also got a look at a number of PHA's
housing developments in north Philadelphia, including Richard Allen
and Cambridge Homes and the PHA community center.