A collaboration between the federal government and local communities is working to create new career opportunities.
The Flint Environmental Career Worker Apprentice Readiness Training Program is funded by the Biden Administration’s Justice40 initiative. Tony Johnson, a single father from Michigan, credits the program with altering his family’s future. He started his carpentry apprenticeship in April 2024, and is now on track for a union job in Flint.
Johnson says this is the only program he has ever been part of that has created a career opportunity.
“Imagine going to college and after finishing your program, the instructor lines you up with jobs and they keep in contact with you,” Johnson said. “They gave us connections and comfort and stability knowing that we’re not in this alone.”
Johnson stumbled upon the program by chance and thinks it needs promotion in more Michigan communities. It partners with community colleges, historically Black colleges and universities, and apprenticeship programs, and has trained more than 13,500 people.
The program claims a 70% job placement rate.
