DIRT Corps is a paid job training program focusing on making environmental work inclusive and accessible, and promotes a safe and supportive culture of learning rooted in equity, and anti-racism practices. Trainees are paid for their time in the training program as well as offered extra paid mid-week work days. The program reflects the diversity of South Seattle, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and underemployed and unemployed people.

Our program combines classroom instruction and hands-on training at outdoor work sites. Subjects include green stormwater infrastructure, ecological restoration, and urban forestry. Dirt Corps adopts a model of having people with all types and levels of expertise work alongside each other. Through this model, our trainees contribute to improved community health while also gaining employable skills in multiple environmental fields.

Your donation to our training program would be used for hands-on training at Point Rediscovery, a community legacy restoration site in South Seattle. The site is a rare urban stream/stormwater facility which provides both habitat and community benefits, making it an optimal area for a living classroom. With GiveBIG funding, DIRT Corps would be able to host extra days of training at this unique and special place, allowing trainees to work and learn alongside staff revegetating and removing invasives from this beautiful area.