RonDell Pooler
Field coordinator, Washington Parks & People
Washington, District of ColumbiaGreen Corps Training Leads to Jobs
RonDell Pooler took advantage of a valuable training opportunity when he signed up for the DC Green Corps, a program that provides training and career guidance for chronically underemployed residents.
The focus of the training is on tree planting and maintenance, park management, and volunteer supervision. This also gave RonDell a chance to participate in a 12-week training course supported by the District Department of Transportation's Urban Forest Administration and the USDA Forest Service.
RonDell is now a graduate of DC Green Corps and works for a nonprofit organization leading volunteer projects, monitoring trees and park conditions and supervising trainees. "Forestry programs have had a great impact, not only by giving me a job but real skills," says RonDell. "It has also helped me become more conscious of the community and my neighborhood," he says.
Without support from the Urban Forest Administration and the Forest Service, this successful program could not provide valuable leaders like RonDell for the future stewardship of the city's trees.