NEW YORK (PIX11) -- A Brooklyn man is one of hundreds of people who will be breaking into exciting jobs in the new clean energy industry, and it's all thanks to a $4 million grant from Con Edison to help make it happen.
Bernard Smith, 32, said it was a long, tough road to get here, but now he has his dream job and career in electric engineering. Smith grew up in East New York’s Linden houses. Growing up with a single mom, his priority was to help them get out of poverty.
Smith said the options and jobs were scarce. His mom had an idea; he signed up for orientation with a group called Green City Force, and he said the rest is history.
It’s a course that launched him into a successful path, the Green City Force, a nonprofit that helps train hundreds of people in clean energy jobs.
Eleven years later, smith works full-time for Con Ed. Smith said he finally has a good, steady paycheck and feels like he knows a trade that helps him give back to his community. A four million grant from Con Ed is providing the funding to help make it happen
Smith now had four sons. His mom has since passed, but Smith said her legacy lives on.
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