Imagine you wake up early in the morning, stretch, go on a five-mile run, and then listen to a motivational speaker for a half an hour inspiring you to live your life to the fullest; all before the rest of the world is at work. You would feel empowered, motivated, and accomplished, right? This is how the organization Run Hope Work empowers youth to become their best selves physically and emotionally, all while providing hands-on training to boost their resume skills in order to find a job.
The Run Hope Work organization does exactly what it sounds like. The youth go on a run in the morning, listen to a motivational speaker, and then work to train in specific tangible skills that make them competitive in the job market. Last week, GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic served as the “work” portion for local job trainees, all in their lower-twenties. The GRID team led a mock solar panel installation at the Run Hope Work office, providing the youth with professional solar panel training. Antwain, a Solar Construction Assistant with GRID Alternatives, led the mock installation with the group. “They had been studying and preparing for this mock installation for three weeks, they were so excited about it,” says Antwain, “so when we got there, they already knew a lot about solar.” A mother of one job trainee actually had solar panels installed on her home by GRID Alternatives, so he was already familiar with our organization.
Antwain himself was a job trainee with Sasha Bruce, a similar program, where he was introduced to the solar industry. After completing his job training in solar, he became a SolarCorps Fellow with GRID Alternatives. After the Fellowship, he was offered a full-time job with GRID. “I would really like to go back and work with them,” says Antwain, “especially with one student in particular – he really wants to work in the solar industry.” It looks like GRID will be back. “Our trainees really benefited from the hands-on experience,” said Kate Harrison, Executive Director of Run Hope Work. GRID Alternatives is looking forward to our next event with Run Hope Work’s eager young job trainees.