The NYCHA Journal

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Comprehensive Modernization Program Partners Top Story 

Comp Mod Celebrates Second Graduating Class from Pathways to Apprenticeship 

Vincent Echavaria

NYCHA’s Comprehensive Modernization Department (Comp Mod) started off the new year in celebratory fashion by graduating its second class of a pre-apprenticeship training program on January 17. 

Through a partnership with NYCHA, the Pathways to Apprenticeship (P2A) program provides free training to residents to prepare them for union apprenticeships and future careers in the construction industry. The newest cohort for Comp Mod was specifically aligned with Laborers’ International Union Local 78, representing asbestos and hazardous materials abatement workers, to receive industry-related job training. 

Seventeen NYCHA residents completed the three-week course, in which they gained construction skills and asbestos handler training and certifications such as OSHA 30, Site Safety Training, Environmental Protection Agency Lead and City Department of Environmental Protection certificates, and the State Department of Labor Asbestos License. Comp Mod’s inaugural cohort from P2A completed the program in September. The initiative is funded by the Comp Mod Department and supported by the Public Housing Community Fund.   

Speaking at the January 17 graduation ceremony at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, P2A Executive Director Gyasi Headen said the program marked the first collaboration between NYCHA, Local 78, and Pathways to Apprenticeship. 

“We’re excited to celebrate the graduates as they’re about to embark on the next journey in their lives,” Mr. Headen said. “Pathways to Apprenticeship is an organization that’s been dedicated to serving underserved communities, providing them with access to union opportunities, which means career wages, dignity, and lifelong opportunity for success.”  

Comp Mod Vice President Michele Moore congratulates the Pathways to Apprenticeship participants at their graduation ceremony.
Resident Adrian Gibson receives a hard hat and tool bag with his P2A graduation certificate.

Vice President of Comp Mod Michele Moore noted that P2A supports a future workforce for Comp Mod at NYCHA, which is investing more than $1 billion into the revitalization of developments including St. Nicholas Houses in Harlem, Todt Hill Houses on Staten Island, and Gowanus Houses and Wyckoff Gardens in Brooklyn. The Local 78 partnership provides graduates with meaningful and long-term employment opportunities aligned with Comp Mod project goals, as hazardous material removal is a major scope of work across all sites. The Comprehensive Modernization effort aims to not only invest in NYCHA buildings but in advancement opportunities for residents as well.  

“This is a class that we’ve been planning for the past six months to coordinate directly with Local 78 and NYCHA residents, specifically at our developments undergoing Comprehensive Modernization,” Ms. Moore said at the ceremony. “We’re so excited to be able to have candidates working with Local 78 to make sure we have the right NYCHA workforce as we develop these projects and do these major renovations to the apartments. We look forward to seeing all of you working on NYCHA contracts, making union wages, and being part of the renovation of properties that you call home.”  

P2A lead instructor Anthony Cooper commended the second cohort’s commitment to the program, saying that participants were inspired by the mission of “changing their community.”  

Resident Adrian Gibson thanked the pre-apprenticeship program for setting him on a future career path.  

“I’m appreciative and looking forward to starting on my journey at Local 78,” the recent graduate said.  

Following the training course, P2A will work with the residents over the next six months as they prepare for an apprenticeship with Local 78, assisting with applications for interviews and supporting them through the process to begin a union career.