The San Diego Job Corp Center has received more than $100,000 in federal stimulus money for "green" training programs.
The center trains nearly 700 students a year, most of whom live in dorms on the Imperial Beach campus. Students from low-income families get a fresh start and skills they can take into the real world to support themselves.
"The great thing about this money is we get two hits for it," said electrician instructor Randall Mann. "We get more training for the students and also we get to save energy."
With part of the money, the center plans on buying a hybrid car to cut down on transportation costs. It will also be spent on training for an auto-mechanic program. Less glamorous but no less important: Student plumbers will replace more than 80 if the campus' old toilets with newly purchased low-flow toilets.
"These young folks will be ahead of the curve; they're well aware of green technology," center director Bobby Brown said.
The program will work out well for students like Raul Isais, who’s getting hands-on training in the latest green products in the industry he hopes to enter.
"You can see what you're going to be doing in the outside world, not only here, and we're faced with that everyday activities, so it's really good,” Isais said.
