Got Green and the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) did a demo of their plans to “recycle” an abandoned house Wednesday morning (July 21) in White Center, with 14 participants ranging in age from 19 to 55.

This project utilizes federal stimulus dollars provided through a Dept. of Labor “Pathways Out of Poverty” training grant to prepare low income communities for livable wage jobs in Green Construction industries.

Got Green is also preparing graduates to become ambassadors for home weatherization and other solutions to climate change in their own communities.

The house used for training is scheduled for demolition on the future site of the Strength of Place Initiative (SOPI) Village affordable housing development.  Program graduates (all low-income workers of color) hope to provide weatherization services to Seattle area homeowners and small businesses under the “Weatherize Every Building” project being launched by the City of Seattle this fall.

Got Green (a local grassroots organization that promotes Green Jobs, Energy Efficiency, and Racial Justice) is organizing this Home Weatherization training to promote the movement for Green Collar Jobs as the best way to fight poverty and global warming at the same time. Got Green is Seattle’s home-grown branch of the national movement for equity and opportunity in the new Green Economy.

More info on Got Green is available here.

Photographer Francis Zera was there to capture the following Photo Slideshow:

Click to Play Francis Zera’s Photo Slideshow

This weekend, local amateur radio operators (“hams”) from the Highline (Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, SeaTac, Tukwila, as well as the North Highline unincorporated area) Amateur Radio Club will be participating in ham radio’s annual national emergency exercise called Field Day, to simulate a disaster, and especially the loss of normal communications in a disaster.

Members of the Highline Amateur Radio Club will be setting up a radio communications center at Marvista Park (located at SW 200th and 4th Ave. SW in Normandy Park) to communicate with other hams participating from around the world. Antennas will be set up starting Friday and the exercise begins at 11 a. m. Saturday, June 26, and lasts 24 hours until 11 a. m. Sunday. Club members will be making contacts with the other hams utilizing both voice and Morse Code.

Hams have a long history of providing back-up communications for local governments as well as other non-governmental agencies needing communications in a disaster. Hams provide these services, volunteering their time and, often, using their own personal equipment. As more and more professional emergency management personnel (fire fighters, police, EMTs, emergency managers, etc.) are getting Amateur Radio licenses to be able to use this valuable radio resource, the FCC is contemplating changes to the rules to allow these professionals to work with the volunteers (since, normally, hams are not permitted to have any pecuniary interest in the communications that they make (e. g. wages.).

The Highline Amateur Radio Club extends an invitation to anyone interested in observing the exercise to visit Marvista Park on Saturday afternoon, evening or Sunday morning.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The silly "Ham Radio" graphic is our creation, and does not reflect the mindset of these radio operators, who probably wouldn't stoop to such a ridiculous logo like that...]