Red Hook program puts New Yorkers on the road to commercial driving careers

In today's Rebuilding Brooklyn, a month of free training to put some New Yorkers on a brand new career path from school buses to trucks. This Red Hook program is opening the door to commercial driving and the steady work that comes with it. News 12's Edgar Robinson has more. A driver sets the tone. It's an opportunity. Keeping order. And a responsibility. Keeping a safe environment. Vinny here doesn't take for granted. Subsequent to the pandemic, I found myself underemployed. Then a friend told him about Red Hook on the Road. This free four-week program trains unemployed New Yorkers to earn a commercial driver's license, or CDL, one week spent in the classroom, three behind the wheels. Now that I have the green light, I can proceed very carefully. They learn the rules and how to handle a vehicle this big on busy New York City streets. But the training is only part of it. We help them get access to health care. We help them to be able to retire and live fulfilling lives. They go off to drive coach buses, and they may even be driving the MTA bus that people may have rode in today. Students that we select for our program are the prim de la prim of the students that apply to the program. Once they get the license, the next step is getting a job. The program says they work with about 50 employer partners to connect graduates with real work. They've fed a lot of drivers to us, and it's always been the same, you know, just super qualified people that are career motivated. And for Vinny, that connection meant more than a new job. Being in possession of money is very liberating. Needless to say, I feel very, very needed, and this could not have been a better fit. And for some graduates, this is exactly where that training program can lead you. You get to hit the roads here and get paid to do it. The program sees about 25 graduates a month. We'll have all that information on how to apply posted on youth12.com. In Red Hook, Edgar Robinson, Youth 12.