Kingman Rangers

The Kingman Rangers is a job training initiative in Washington, DC that prepares out-of-work adults for entry-level jobs in the green sector while helping to beautify Kingman and Heritage Islands. The apprentices, called "Kingman Rangers," spend half of their time doing maintenance, landscaping, and construction projects on the island and the other half in the classroom working on basic job readiness skills. A key goal of the Rangers program is to train participants in how to operate and maintain "green infrastructure" - landscape features such as "rain gardens" that prevent pollution from entering streams and rivers. Cleaning up urban waters such as DC's Anacostia River and Baltimore's Inner Harbor depend on widely installing such landscape features, and they must be maintained frequently to be effective. The Rangers learn new skills in the operations and maintenance of green infrastructure, which could help them secure long-term employment in the landscaping industry. When they aren't on the island, the Rangers are working with Living Classrooms' workforce development team to build critical job readiness skills such as professionalism, financial literacy, resume development, and interview techniques.Upon completion of the program, the Rangers are assisted with long-term job placement and receive at least one year of case management support to help them mitigate any barriers that could keep them from being successful in their new position.