CCC to Hire 60 for Quake Recovery

The California Conservation Corps is looking to hire 60 young, out-of-work men and women to spend the next six months working on local earthquake recovery projects.

The CCC’s Northridge Earthquake Recovery Program will pay $7 an hour, 40 hours a week to qualified applicants who will retrofit quake-damaged structures, remove debris, knock down quake-battered chimneys and perform other tasks in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

“We’re looking for people who have been out of work for a long time,” said Abby Ybarra, project coordinator. “This experience hopefully will prepare them to be more marketable in the job market.”

Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 26 and meet one of two criteria: They must be unemployed due to earthquake and plant closures or unemployed for 15 of the last 26 weeks and unlikely to return to their previous occupation.

Prospective corps members must apply in person at Window C of the Employment Development Department office, 1520 San Fernando Road, San Fernando.

Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The deadline to apply is Nov. 23.

If accepted, applicants will begin a two-week training course Dec. 5, followed by six months of work in quake-damaged areas.

Corps members may learn skills such as carpentry, painting and how to use heavy machinery in projects for the cities of San Fernando, Burbank, Santa Clarita and Santa Monica, Ybarra said.

In addition to a salary and skills, corps members can earn holiday and medical benefits.

They also will receive career-planning instruction and have an opportunity to pursue a high school diploma or its equivalent.

The Northridge Earthquake Recovery Program is funded under a one-year, $2-million grant from the federal Job Training Partnership Act.

Ybarra said the program has hired 118 youths since its beginning May 31.