Urban Green Jobs along Atlanta’s South River

It’s a Monday, and Stephanie Williams is delighted to be at work, pruning, weeding, planting, and restoring the yard of a local elderly woman.

“For the past year, she hadn’t been able to get outside and take care of her yard. Everything was overgrown. She hadn’t had any help in a while,” says Stephanie. “When we left, she was finally able to see her yard and her home for the first time in a long time. That moment, with her standing there laughing and smiling, that was my most favorite moment.”

Stephanie has dedicated much of her professional life to uplifting her community, and in recent months, she has been giving back and learning new skills as a trainee with Urban Green Jobs, a workforce development initiative co-created by HABESHA, Inc. and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). The initiative was launched in 2017, but HABESHA has been a fixture in Atlanta for nearly two decades, promoting Pan-African culture, cultivating new leaders and economic vitality, and practicing environmental sustainability throughout metro Atlanta. HABESHA stands for “Helping Africa by Establishing Schools Home and Abroad.”

“HABESHA was really a natural partner for us,” says TNC Atlanta Program Director Ayanna Williams. “They have a history of working within the community.”