Helping cities clean up

PAVING THE WAY: Groundwork Providence students work on a paving-removal project in Pawtucket. Foreground from left, Angel Olivencia and Christopher Jones, of Providence, Steve Ricci, director of field operations, and foreman George Price. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
PAVING THE WAY: Groundwork Providence students work on a paving-removal project in Pawtucket. Foreground from left, Angel Olivencia and Christopher Jones, of Providence, Steve Ricci, director of field operations, and foreman George Price. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Groundwork Providence, a nonprofit community-development organization, is dedicated to helping midsize, formerly industrial cities improve the lives of residents by offering often hard-to-find environmental services.

That includes landscaping, maintenance, stormwater management and other services provided through a social-service offshoot, GroundCorp Landscaping. Opened in 2010, GroundCorp works with residents, nonprofits and businesses in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls, according to Amelia Rose, executive director of Groundwork Providence.

“We see it as a public service, when people hire [us] they really are helping to improve lives,” she said.

In October, TD Bank and the Arbor Day Foundation awarded Providence’s Department of Parks and Recreation a $20,000 TD Green Streets grant to plant 60 trees on Adelaide Avenue and the former site of Gorham Silver Manufacturing Co. Over the next year, GroundCorp will be responsible for the maintenance of these trees.

- Advertisement -

Inspired by Groundwork UK, Groundwork Providence was one of the first chapters to join the U.S. national charter, a partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service, in 2001, said Rose.

What differentiates Providence’s chapter from the 22 others is an almost 15-year-old job-training program, which feeds workers to GroundCorp.

The program is designed to help the unemployed, underemployed and those facing barriers to employment, such as a criminal record, achieve skills for a career in environmental service. Students are taught about lead removal, air quality, green infrastructure, stormwater management, environmental justice and health equity. They earn free renovation, remodeling and painting and asbestos-removal certification and other credentials.

In 2010, landscaping training was added to the curriculum thanks to funding received from the Department of Labor.

“It’s unique to Rhode Island, and other trusts in the network are looking at us as a model,” said Rose of the free, eight-week program run twice a year.

She said people often don’t know where to turn when confronted with issues involving the removal of wastewater, stormwater, solid waste or hazardous waste, but added, “dealing with all of that takes [workers] and these are all local jobs we generate.”

This fall, students are working on six Pawtucket/Central Falls development projects, including pavement removal and installing rain gardens. Rose said the opportunity is possible through funding from Rhode Island Housing and allows the students more hours of real-world application.

The program looks for partners who can provide hands-on experience, said Rose: “We pair learning with getting into the world and doing.”

Groundwork Providence funds the job-training program through EPA grants targeting brownfield cleanup and environmental-services workforce development. Ten students are selected per cycle. •

No posts to display