BOX 1.1
“THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE LIKE ME.”
In 2010, Sary Dobhran was unemployed and struggling to get by in Portland, Oregon, on
$400 a month in public assistance. She and her three-year old son were living in a one-room
apartment and things were looking desperate.
Sary’s life had been plunged into turmoil when the father of her son died while she was still
pregnant. Sary has a college degree in environmental studies
and speaks four languages, but that wasn’t enough to help land
“Sary’s triumph over
her a job in the worst economy since the Great Depression.
adversity could be
A turning point came when she enrolled in a pre-apprenticereplicated thousands
ship program at Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc., gaining marketable
of times over around
skills in the burgeoning fields of energy efficiency and sustainthe nation.”
able construction. She
— Kelly Haines
was eventually hired by
a contractor, received
on-the-job training, and then advanced training in air
and duct sealing and building performance. Sary’s
particular path was funded by a series of grants tied to
putting people back to work and providing savings to
consumers on energy costs.
Today, Sary is earning a living wage by performing
energy audits for homeowners who want to save money
on their utility bills and reduce their energy consumption. “Sary’s triumph over adversity could be replicated
thousands of times over around the nation,” says Kelly
Haines, a workforce specialist with Clean Energy Works
Oregon, a nonprofit committed to building a clean
energy economy in Oregon and one of the organizations that helped Sary pull herself and her son out of
poverty. Sary’s training program was funded in part by
Clean Energy Works Oregon with a grant from the U.S.
Department of Energy.
“My story is a testament to the demographics of the
unemployed,” says Sary. “We’re often educated. We’re
Clean Energy Works Oregon
often hard-working. We simply need the tools to get
Sary Dobhran and her son at home in Portland, Oregon.
into a market like this.”
40? Chapter 1
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