Los Angeles Job Corps Urban Campus Construction Celebration

Students and staff of the Los Angeles Job Corps Center helped present the construction plans for the new Los Angeles Job Corps Urban Campus to more than 400 guests and dignitaries at a Feb. 11 construction celebration. The event, held adjacent to the construction site of the new building, included remarks from City Councilmember Jan Perry, U.S. Rep. Diane Watson, and several Job Corps representatives.

"Located right in the heart of downtown Los Angeles and spread out over several city blocks, our students and staff face a unique set of challenges every day," said Los Angeles Job Corps Center Director Ruby Brown. "No one deserves a new campus more than they do. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to help turn the vision for this new building into a reality."

The project is one of the largest recipients of Job Corps’ American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, with the purchase of a 20-year lease agreement for the new building with an estimated value of $82 million. The celebration was hosted by the operator of the Los Angeles Job Corps Center – the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles and included a short program to thank the organizations and institutions that contributed to the success of the new Urban Campus.

The 154,000-square-foot facility is centered in Los Angeles' South Park business district and will feature a state-of-the-art library, computer lab, modernized medical and dental clinic and infirmary, classrooms, and new dormitories for 400 students. Once complete, the building will also seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification status and feature various green elements, such as water-efficient landscaping and energy-efficient air conditioning units.

The construction celebration was a huge success, and the excitement among all attendees was evident as they examined the three-dimensional model of the new building. Guests were also invited to drop selected items into a commemorative time capsule, which will be sealed and displayed in the lobby of the new Urban Campus for the next 20 years.

Los Angeles Job Corps students showcased the center’s career technical training areas and met with business owners to discuss future hiring opportunities. "I'm excited to be here today to celebrate our new campus," said Los Angeles Business Technology student Samantha James."The building will be a great new place to live; it will be safe for the students and environmentally friendly as well."

Los Angeles Job Corps Students To Help Build New Urban Campus

As work on the new Los Angeles Job Corps Urban Campus moves into the next phase of construction, students in the Homebuilders Institute (HBI) career technical training area are updating their resumes and polishing their interviewing skills to prepare for the available apprenticeship positions offered through the contractor (PCL Construction Services, Inc.) and subcontractors for the project.

"I'm very excited about the possible opportunity to work on the new building," said Los Angeles HBI student Angel Chachill. "My particular area of expertise is drywall installation, and I’m hoping a job working on the Urban Campus will help take my skills to the next level and give me the extra experience I need to get a full-time career after Job Corps."

The construction of the new Los Angeles Job Corps Urban Campus is expected to generate more than 900 jobs, including 60 positions dedicated for Job Corps students. Los Angeles students hired by the contractor and subcontractors will receive hands-on training in various construction trades, such as bricklaying and plumbing, and electrical and tile work. They will learn how to troubleshoot and face real challenges that take place on a construction site every day.

"The purpose of the program is not only to give students a job and some extra training," said PCL Construction Project Manager David Blankmeyer. "We want to prepare them for long-term careers; they are the future of the construction industry."

The Los Angeles Job Corps Urban Campus is expected to open in November 2011 and is currently one of the few new construction projects under way in the downtown Los Angeles area.

2010: Off to a Green Start

The New Year is already full of excitement for staff and students at the Los Angeles Job Corps Center as major construction begins on the center's new addition to its campus. Funded indirectly by ARRA through a 20-year lease contract, the new building will serve a variety of functions. It will contain a four-floor dormitory, a full library, an expanded medical/dental clinic, a dining room, commercial kitchen, 22 new classrooms, staff and counseling offices, and an audiovisual room. A courtyard, amphitheater, and basement also are included in the construction plans.

Designed to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification status, the new L.A. facility will feature green elements, such as water-efficient landscaping and a bicycle storage area. This new building will help promote a green culture and keep environmental sustainability top-of-mind.

Construction of the facility is expected to create approximately 165 jobs both for local contractors and for Los Angeles Job Corps students training in the center's green career areas, such as plumbing, electrical and carpentry. The general contractor and subcontractors for the project are actively recruiting for apprenticeship positions from the L.A. Center. Interviews will be conducted on center for any students interested in employment on the project. The students hired will receive valuable hands-on experience and play a key role in the completion of the project.

Judge Sergio A. Gutierrez

Job Corps' motto is "Success Lasts a Lifetime" and nowhere is this more evident than in the story of Idaho Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sergio Gutierrez, who received his GED and studied carpentry at the Wolf Creek Job Corps Center in the early 1970s.

Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Sergio crossed the border with his family and settled in Stockton, California. His father struggled to make ends meet for his six children on field workers’ wages and his mother suffered from crippling mental illness. To ease their burden, Sergio, then four years old, and one of his sisters moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico, to live with their loving grandmother in a leaky, hole-covered house that he remembers as barely habitable. Despite this poverty and hardship, Sergio was inspired by his grandmother’s wisdom and promised her that he would make something of himself.

When Gutierrez was 12, his beloved grandmother died, and he moved back to Stockton with his mother, his farm worker stepfather, and 12 other siblings. Scraping by in these conditions proved to be too much for the young man. He dropped out of high school after finishing 9th grade and fell in with a crowd of older boys that he admits were hoodlums.

Often homeless and frustrated with barely getting by on menial jobs, Sergio went to an employment office where he met a woman who recommended the Job Corps program to him. Resolving to fulfill his promise to his grandmother, he enrolled that day. This was when his new life began.

At 16, Sergio began attending the Wolf Creek Job Corps Center in Oregon. The structure, support, and serenity of the center "gave me an affirmation that I could do something with my life." Sergio quickly became a leader among the students and graduated with carpentry skills and a GED.

Transformed by his experiences at Wolf Creek, Sergio went on to earn both an undergraduate and a law degree, practiced law, and was appointed to the Idaho Court of Appeals in 2002.

Judge Gutierrez attributes his success to the Job Corps program. "I was not going down the right path, and the program literally saved my life," he said. “My life turned around when I enrolled in the Wolf Creek Job Corp Center in Glide, Oregon. Job Corps saved my life. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boise State University and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings Law School. But I am most proud of the GED that I attained at Wolf Creek because it represented a new start in my life.”

Troy Carter

Like many Job Corps graduates, Troy Carter began his life in a low-income neighborhood with nothing but a dream of music industry success and a drive to make it happen. After struggling to balance his education with a budding music career, Carter enrolled in the former Chesapeake Job Corps Center in Port Deposit, Maryland in 1990.

Carter quickly graduated from Job Corps with a GED. Saying the program "helped me experience independence for the first time,” Carter applied his new skills and perspective with renewed focus to his music industry ambitions.

Today he is the CEO of Coalition Media Group, a successful Beverly Hills, California, artist management and digital marketing company. He has worked closely with superstars like Sean "Diddy" Combs, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Will Smith, Eve, Nelly, and Lady Gaga.

Carter says America needs institutions like Job Corps because building leaders "starts in school" with students who "don’t stop dreaming and work hard.” He is living proof that, if just given the opportunity, tomorrow’s leader could be anyone, even an ambitious young dreamer from West Philadelphia.

Monique Williams Jordan

With a pinch of passion, a sprinkle of creativity and a generous amount of determination, "Chef Moe," Monique Williams, has turned her culinary aspirations into a recipe for success.

Her journey began as a culinary arts student at Woodstock Job Corps Center in Maryland - the same school where she landed her first job. After several years of teaching and inspiring other young chefs, Williams became the first former Job Corps student to become an advanced instructor at Anne Arundel Community College’s hands-on culinary program.

Chef Moe was recognized during the 45th Anniversary of Job Corps celebration and later joined her Woodland Job Corps Center culinary students to cook with Chef Robert Irvine from the Food Network show Dinner: Impossible. "The opportunity to make a life-changing difference in the lives of other young people is very special to me, and I will forever be grateful to Job Corps for giving me that," said Williams.

Chef Moe’s work in the kitchen is truly inspired, but it’s her gift for inspiring others to achieve independence and success, no matter where they come from, that has the power to change the world. We can’t wait to see what she cooks up next.

Monique Williams Jordan

With a pinch of passion, a sprinkle of creativity and a generous amount of determination, "Chef Moe," Monique Williams, has turned her culinary aspirations into a recipe for success.

Her journey began as a culinary arts student at Woodstock Job Corps Center in Maryland - the same school where she landed her first job. After several years of teaching and inspiring other young chefs, Williams became the first former Job Corps student to become an advanced instructor at Anne Arundel Community College’s hands-on culinary program.

Chef Moe was recognized during the 45th Anniversary of Job Corps celebration and later joined her Woodland Job Corps Center culinary students to cook with Chef Robert Irvine from the Food Network show Dinner: Impossible. "The opportunity to make a life-changing difference in the lives of other young people is very special to me, and I will forever be grateful to Job Corps for giving me that," said Williams.

Chef Moe’s work in the kitchen is truly inspired, but it’s her gift for inspiring others to achieve independence and success, no matter where they come from, that has the power to change the world. We can’t wait to see what she cooks up next.

Troy Carter

Like many Job Corps graduates, Troy Carter began his life in a low-income neighborhood with nothing but a dream of music industry success and a drive to make it happen. After struggling to balance his education with a budding music career, Carter enrolled in the former Chesapeake Job Corps Center in Port Deposit, Maryland in 1990.

Carter quickly graduated from Job Corps with a GED. Saying the program "helped me experience independence for the first time,” Carter applied his new skills and perspective with renewed focus to his music industry ambitions.

Today he is the CEO of Coalition Media Group, a successful Beverly Hills, California, artist management and digital marketing company. He has worked closely with superstars like Sean "Diddy" Combs, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Will Smith, Eve, Nelly, and Lady Gaga.

Carter says America needs institutions like Job Corps because building leaders "starts in school" with students who "don’t stop dreaming and work hard.” He is living proof that, if just given the opportunity, tomorrow’s leader could be anyone, even an ambitious young dreamer from West Philadelphia.

Judge Sergio A. Gutierrez

Job Corps' motto is "Success Lasts a Lifetime" and nowhere is this more evident than in the story of Idaho Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sergio Gutierrez, who received his GED and studied carpentry at the Wolf Creek Job Corps Center in the early 1970s.

Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Sergio crossed the border with his family and settled in Stockton, California. His father struggled to make ends meet for his six children on field workers’ wages and his mother suffered from crippling mental illness. To ease their burden, Sergio, then four years old, and one of his sisters moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico, to live with their loving grandmother in a leaky, hole-covered house that he remembers as barely habitable. Despite this poverty and hardship, Sergio was inspired by his grandmother’s wisdom and promised her that he would make something of himself.

When Gutierrez was 12, his beloved grandmother died, and he moved back to Stockton with his mother, his farm worker stepfather, and 12 other siblings. Scraping by in these conditions proved to be too much for the young man. He dropped out of high school after finishing 9th grade and fell in with a crowd of older boys that he admits were hoodlums.

Often homeless and frustrated with barely getting by on menial jobs, Sergio went to an employment office where he met a woman who recommended the Job Corps program to him. Resolving to fulfill his promise to his grandmother, he enrolled that day. This was when his new life began.

At 16, Sergio began attending the Wolf Creek Job Corps Center in Oregon. The structure, support, and serenity of the center "gave me an affirmation that I could do something with my life." Sergio quickly became a leader among the students and graduated with carpentry skills and a GED.

Transformed by his experiences at Wolf Creek, Sergio went on to earn both an undergraduate and a law degree, practiced law, and was appointed to the Idaho Court of Appeals in 2002.

Judge Gutierrez attributes his success to the Job Corps program. "I was not going down the right path, and the program literally saved my life," he said. “My life turned around when I enrolled in the Wolf Creek Job Corp Center in Glide, Oregon. Job Corps saved my life. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boise State University and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings Law School. But I am most proud of the GED that I attained at Wolf Creek because it represented a new start in my life.”