Twenty community organizations will share $5 million in New York grants to train young people for work in clean energy, green construction, conservation and related fields. The awards include programs in Rochester, Syracuse, Kingston and western New York as well as downstate communities.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation's Environmental Justice Green Jobs for Youth program is intended for people ages 17 to 24 in communities facing significant pollution, climate and employment challenges. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the awards during Climate Week. The grants support training tied to employer demand and credentials such as certificates, degrees or comparable qualifications; they are not an announcement that 20 new job sites have opened or that every trainee has been hired.
DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said the grants are meant to connect environmental education with skills employers seek. State officials cited 184,000 clean-energy jobs in New York as of 2024, but did not give a projected job-placement total for this grant round.
Awards in Rochester, Syracuse and western New York
In Rochester, Taproot Collective received $250,000 for urban agriculture, food systems and environmental-services training for low-income youth. Friends of the Gardenaerial received $250,000 for hands-on work with street trees, raised-bed gardens, plant selection and an urban farm. Ascend Workforce Solutions received $181,600 for weatherization and building-trade training, including case management, support services and work with local unions on placement.
Onondaga Earth Corps received $250,000 to expand its Syracuse youth conservation corps with paid internships in urban forestry, green-infrastructure maintenance and land management. Employer partners will help shape training, and the program will emphasize job placement.
The Clean Air Coalition of Western New York received $249,558 for an urban-forestry partnership centered on Niagara Falls. Participants ages 18 to 24 will train in tree work, take part in a planting project on Niagara Falls Housing Authority property and receive a Cornell Cooperative Extension urban-forestry certification upon completion. The grant listing identifies the organization in Buffalo while describing the project site in Niagara Falls.
Citizens for Local Power received $249,874 for paid green-building training in Kingston. Trainees will work with local contractors on energy audits and solar, geothermal and heating-and-cooling systems, with training toward OSHA 10 and a Building Performance Institute building-science certificate.
Programs in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island
Four Westchester County-area awards went to Environmental Leaders of Color in Mount Vernon, the Energy Justice Law and Policy Center in New Rochelle, the Children's Environmental Literacy Foundation for Mount Vernon youth and Groundwork Hudson Valley in Yonkers. Each received $250,000. Their programs respectively cover ground-source heat-pump installation, green infrastructure, horticulture and forestry, and conservation-corps training linked to internships and jobs.
The Mount Vernon heat-pump program includes professional and stress-management skills before technical certification. The New Rochelle project targets youth ages 18 to 24 with hands-on training and employer-linked pathways. The children's foundation plans two yearlong cohorts of more than 10 high-school students, while Groundwork will add a green-infrastructure curriculum to its Yonkers youth corps.
In North Amityville, Suffolk County, Minority Millennials received $250,000 for electrical-systems training designed to help young people in disadvantaged west Suffolk communities qualify for electrical technician work.
Statewide round includes New York City projects
Nine of the 20 awards described in the state release are for organizations serving New York City neighborhoods. The Resilience Education Training received $250,000 for Brooklyn clean-energy, electric-vehicle battery and building-efficiency training; The Bronx is Blooming received $250,000 for urban forestry; and Spring Creek Recreational Fund received $249,999 for an urban-agriculture program serving neurodivergent young adults in Brooklyn. Natural Areas Conservancy received $244,542 for paid conservation positions in Queens.
Human Impacts Institute received $250,000 for Brooklyn climate-communications training and paid placements. Andromeda Community Initiative received $250,000 for construction, restoration and environmental-remediation training in Long Island City. Those awards are part of the statewide funding round, not separate statewide programs.
The remaining city awards of $250,000 each went to Waterfront Alliance for Manhattan waterfront-resilience credentials, WE ACT Environmental Justice Center for Manhattan lead-safety training and Outstanding Renewal Enterprises for urban horticulture in Manhattan. The release specifies planned groups including 40 trainees in the Brooklyn agriculture program, 12 paid annual positions in the Queens conservation program, 120 Manhattan waterfront trainees and 45 to 60 Manhattan lead-safety trainees.
DEC's Office of Environmental Justice administers the competitive grant program. The state says that office has awarded more than $44 million for 365 environmental-justice projects since 2006. The new $5 million round is funded through the state's Environmental Protection Fund; the enacted 2027 budget sets that fund at $425 million, with another $25 million from the Sustainable Future Program.
The governor's release lists the recipients but does not provide a single statewide application deadline for young people. Those seeking more information about the Environmental Justice Grants Program can contact DEC's Office of Environmental Justice at 518-402-8556.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.