Grow Home Baltimore Green Trades Instructor Clayton Williams shares:

“Erick D. has distinguished himself at Grow Home Baltimore from the time he became a crew member and it has been my pleasure to be able to work with and mentor him along the way. During his time in the Grow Home Baltimore Workforce Development, Erick took advantage of every opportunity we offered and even found a couple of classes on his own that we were able to help him attend.

 After he successfully completed workforce development, Erick returned to Grow Home Baltimore as a volunteer to help out in the Hydroponics Lab and the Victory Garden, a neighborhood community garden project. This was no small feat; Erick had to travel a far distance on public transportation at his own expense to be a benefit to others in a community miles from his own home.

Erick had already earned his Maryland Drivers Learners Permit, so I decided to help him get his driving hours by allowing him to drive back home using my vehicle on days that he volunteered. Erick asks so many questions. He is like a sponge. These drives have been some of my most joyful, enlightening and scary drives ever, especially on 695. These drives continue today as he works toward earning his Driver’s License.

Erick continues to look for growth opportunities for himself whether driver’s license or skills training, he is currently enrolled in the Master Gardeners program.

He also is concerned for others coming through the GH programs and looks out for new Latino crew members coming through our program even though he has a job now and is no longer doing Workforce Development.

I like hearing Erick talk about gaining “Social Capital” as he talks to different people from different organizations making connections so that he can serve other members of the Latino community. We attend some of the same workshops and classes, I see him more and more as a colleague than someone that I mentored I see him talking to, then following up with people from ‘Eco Latinos’ or ‘Defensores de la Cuenca’ looking for opportunities not only for himself but for the new people coming through GH.

Erick is empowering himself and through that he empowers others. Erick is an asset to every organization that he becomes a part of and a true leader. I look forward to seeing all his future successes.”