Conservation Corps Gives Military Vets a New Direction in Civilian Life
Originally published in Edison Newsroom
Karla Rubio has struggled to find steady work since leaving the U.S. Army in 2007.
She found her Army job as a mortuary affairs specialist — working with the bodies of service members who died overseas and participating at military funerals — did not translate into the civilian world. She has also juggled college classes in law enforcement with a series of jobs, mostly in retail, while raising two sons, now 5 and 8.
At 27, she needed something more reliable, with a future.
Rubio recently stumbled across an item on the Internet that the California Conservation Corps was seeking military veterans for a job-training program. She joined in January.
“I like it a lot,” she said. “It keeps me active, provides money for me and my kids and has a lot of opportunity.”
The program, funded in part through a $35,000 Edison International grant to the Conservation Lands Foundation, provides veterans up to 29 years old with training in trail structures and habitat enhancement while paying them a salary. After one year and some required volunteer work, Conservation Corps veterans qualify for financial aid for their education.
Read the story on Edison International's Online Newsroom.
