'It's The Future': Out-Of-Work Public Housing Residents Trained To Install Solar Panels On Rooftops

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - Many Americans who lost work during the pandemic are considering new careers. A ground breaking environmental program is giving people a helping hand, with free training for green jobs.

Sarah Bello was a building manager in New York, then she was furloughed when the pandemic hit. Now Bello has a job installing solar panels, even though she had no experience in the field.

"It was a bit intimating at first, it's a whole new industry," she says.

Bello heard about the program called Community Power. It was started by the city of New York along with several environmental groups like WE ACT and Solar One. Community Power trains public housing residents, at no cost, to become certified solar panel installers.

"Solar jobs, is a hot market right now, and our public housing residents are a great talent pipeline," says Ellen Zielinski with the New York City Housing Authority.

The panels Bello installs go right on the roof of New York's public housing buildings. Not only are people out of work being trained for green jobs, the power generated by these panels is going right back into low-income communities. The people who live in these buildings get a savings of about $120 a year on their energy bills.

"It did not come out of our budget. Instead, we lease our roofs, and with the revenue that's generated from these solar leases, we can invest it back Into public housing," says Zielinski.

For Bello, the paycheck has been a godsend and she's excited about her new career.

"It's the future. It's solar," she says. "It has been so rewarding in the fact that I feel like I'm making a difference any day I come in to work."

The program is still relatively small, with panels installed on 40 buildings so far. But if it works in New York, organizers hope it will energize other cities to do the same.