SUMMER YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS HAILED A SUCCESS BY MAYOR BILL WHITE
August 4, 2008 -- Mayor Bill White today recognized and hailed the success of the Summer Youth Conservation Corps, a six-week program designed to train and employ youths to raise awareness of energy conservation. The project was launched earlier this summer and was completed on July 19, 2008.
"Even in its first year, the Summer Youth Conservation Corps truly exceeded everyone's expectations," said Mayor Bill White. "The program has benefited our youth, our households, and our environment."
One hundred Houston youths were hired as energy conservation advocates. Over the course of the program, the advocates educated 135,000 households in 30 neighborhoods about ways to conserve energy, such as sealing windows and doors, maintaining heating and cooling systems, finding the best deal from electric providers, and adjusting thermostats properly. The youths also distributed 250,000 energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs, free to residents, to 62,500 households, providing information about energy savings benefits of the bulbs.
In addition to raising conservation awareness, the program also provided Houston youths with opportunities to receive job training, skills, and experience.
"It made me happy to provide others with free light bulbs, a smile and a little knowledge about energy conservation," said Garrett Auzenne, a 19-year-old student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. "With the knowledge I gained from this experience, I started a business to help others go green in the simplest way possible, by installing compact fluorescent light bulbs."
The Summer Youth Conservation Corps was made possible through a partnership between Houston Works, Ecos Consulting, and the City of Houston. CenterPoint Energy funded the project.
The project complements the City and CenterPoint Energy's Residential Energy Efficiency Program, which offers home weatherization at no cost to residents. The program has weatherized a total of 3,670 homes in nine Houston neighborhoods since 2006.
For more information about the City of Houston's energy conservation efforts, visit www.houstonpowertopeople.com.
