Product of the Product (POP) is
a minority owned and operated company geared towards empowering, training, and mentoring at-risk youth and providing an outlet
for them to transverse into self-sufficient adults. POP provides training through a Pre-Apprenticeship
HVAC Program, where the participants gain the basic skills necessary to embark upon a lifelong career in the Heating, Ventilation
and Air Conditioning Industry (HVAC), one of the top building construction trades in the country.
POP has been serving the Metropolitian Washington community since 1996. Since
that time, POP has successfully collaborated with government agencies, private, Non-profits, Faith and Community Based Organizations
to enhance the lives of DC youth and residents -- all part of our empowerment process.
 |
|
|
|
To introduce and prepare youth in the basic fundamentals of heating
and air conditioning, and promote enrollment in on-the-job apprenticeships as a precursor to becoming a licensed and certified
heating and air conditioning journeymen. |
POP strives to educate the community and youth to ensure that they
realize and understand that there are alternative lifestyles available to them as we strive to educate, and provide a doorway
to a new way of life.
POP staff and licensed HVAC Journeymen
have developed long-term partnerships with the Construction Industry, DC Apprenticeship Council, DC Government Youth Programs,
NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research), ABC (American Building Contractors), the private sector,
and the Faith and Community Based Organizations and Non-Profits in the Metropolitan Washington area. It is our intention to
take at-risk youth between the ages of 18 - 25 and show them by our own example, (being Products of the Product), what can
be accomplished with training, mentoring, education, dedication, and motivation.
Our youth are our future communities. However, a community's success depends upon multi-stakeholder partnerships,
working together to review the laws and policies; identify the common issues, opportunities, and constraints in implementation,
as well as any unintended outcomes. The combined partnerships and impact of community development will require a concerted
effort by all spheres of the private sector, government, and CBO's, and social agencies to ensure that laws, policies,
and practices facilitate a more equitable based community with sustainable growth and regard for youth and their progress
and transition into the world of work and beyond.
|
