NYC | Public Health • Reducing Crime • Unlocking Economic Opportunities

Clean All Blocks(CAB)

LEAVE NO TRASH BEHIND

Clean All Blockz (CAB) is a youth-driven job training program that proposes to build capacity in NYC's low-income communities by empowering young residents to take agency for their neighborhoods and preparing them with the skills to enter the environmental services field. CAB participants (or “Street Keepers”) are taught to do more than sweep and pick up trash, although physically cleaning the community is a core component of the program. CAB also provides classroom instruction and a pathway to certification that will prepare older participants for placement in entry level positions as environmental technicians or environmental services specialists. The primary goal of the program is to change the mindset of the youth by fostering a sense of connection. Youths who take pride in the neighborhoods they live in and feel responsible for the conditions there also develop the authority to demand that others respect the standard they set.

Street Keepers are getting the foundation to be part of a team that works together to solve environmental problems that affect public health.

Learning how to investigate industrial air pollution in the neighborhood through CAB can be a stepping stone to becoming an Environmental Technician investigating pollution sources by performing laboratory and field tests. Collecting test samples to monitor air and water quality dovetails into the work of Environmental engineering technicians who, after receiving their bachelor’s degree, can become Environmental engineers. Environmental engineers develop plans, design waste disposal systems and infrastructure.

Reporters and Youth team leaders will also be trained to monitor, record/photograph and report to the NYC Environmental Protection Agency and other relevant agencies concerning all clogged storm drains, abandoned property and other infrastructure related issues we come across while doing neighborhood cleanups. By directly reporting to the NYC Environmental Protection Agency to have a technician come out to open those storm drains for a clean out.

Training on how to read PM2.5/PM10 using particulate meters

Younger participants (Street Keepers ages will learn:

• How to clean and keep environments clean

• Graffiti abatement

• Litter-abatement

• Recycling and sustainable / green spaces related education

• About the dangers of PM2.5

• Training on how to read PM2.5/PM10 using articulate meters for stirring up dust/particles and how to reduce emissions of pollution that forms PM2.5