Career Readiness Program
Part 1: On-Site Training
Our workforce development provides pathways out of poverty for young adults by helping them get livable wage jobs. Our primary age range is 18-24; however, we will accept anyone who is sick and tired of being in poverty. Once they are accepted into the program, the young adults are enrolled into our Career Readiness Program(CRP). Our CRP is a paid eight-week course that teaches them life, job, and placement skills. During those eight weeks of training, these opportunity youth get a chance to go from unemployable to employable.
Part 2: Off-Site Training
Next, they can pick from one of three different bootcamps to join. Those bootcamps are Edible Forest, Community Engagement, and Green Construction.
Edible Forest
The SEEED Edible Forest provides an oasis of free fresh produce the East Knoxville community by cultivating a diverse variety of fruit trees and plants. Our Edible Forest helps supplement the East Knoxville community at the epicenter of a 2-mile radius food desert. SEEED’s Edible Forest is home to 37 fruit trees and 13 raised beds and offers a wide variety of pesticide free, organic fruit trees, vegetable plants, and herbs, all of which are freely available to be harvested by community members. By adding a pollinator habitat, the Edible Forest continues to grow, thrive, and contribute to the restoration of the dwindling population of monarch butterflies. As an educational tool, monarchs are used in teaching biology “on a scale unequaled by any other insect in the world”.
EDIBLE FOREST BOOTCAMPS:
Our EF Program also hosts a 4-week bootcamp that pays young adults while providing them skills in sustainable agriculture and growing.
One of our fruit trees
Community Engagement
SEEED serves as a liaison between government and other non-government organizations and marginalized or underserved communities in Knoxville, such as our own Morningside community where we are located.
With our CE Program, we engage in deep canvassing, surveying, and interviewing to better understand the needs of underserved communities in East Knoxville and connect the people in these areas with resources they need to thrive.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BOOTCAMP:
The CE program hosts a 4-week bootcamp in which we pay young adults while providing them with experiences and skills in community engagement work such as surveying, conducting focus groups, and canvassing.
Community engagement
Green Construction
Our Green Construction Boot Camp, (GCBC), consists of a four-week training in job safety, tools, uniform, and equipment. The GCBC provides OSHA-10 training, basic blueprint reading, construction work, site protocols, information on city codes, regulations, and permits. Last year’s class produced 6 students who successfully completed the GCBC. Our goal for 2022 is 14 students with 10 completing GCBC. After completing the GCBC, the top students become part of SEEED’s staff. The crew will be called the Growing SEEEDs.
The Growing SEEDs (GS) worked extensively with Knoxville Habitat for Humanity (KHFH) to learn best practices on how to work safely and how to produce at a high quality rate. KHFH helped our crew organize their workflow so they can work smarter not harder. KHFH was valuable in showing our young students what a construction crew should look like and how your workmanship is a direct reflection on your character and pride. Our GS were very engaged and learned so much from KHFH. They worked well with the subcontractors, electrician, plumber, and the HVAC companies. They were eager to learn and followed instructions perfectly.
GS also received training that allowed them to experience the trials and errors that can occur. The GS crews will have complete exposure to every career track in the conventional & emerging green construction business. Now, they can choose which livable wage career that best suits their skill sets; therefore, setting their feet solidly on a pathway that leads them out of poverty.
ICF walls