Karla Rubio has struggled to find steady work since leaving the U.S. Army in 2007.
She found her Army job as a mortuary affairs specialist — working with the bodies of service members who died overseas and participating at military funerals — did not translate into the civilian world. She has also juggled college classes in law enforcement with a series of jobs, mostly in retail, while raising two sons, now 5 and 8.
At 27, she needed something more reliable, with a future.
Rubio recently stumbled across an item on the Internet that the California Conservation Corps was seeking military veterans for a job-training program. She joined in January.
“I like it a lot,” she said. “It keeps me active, provides money for me and my kids and has a lot of opportunity.”
The program, funded in part through a $35,000 Edison International grant to the Conservation Lands Foundation, provides veterans up to 29 years old with training in trail structures and habitat enhancement while paying them a salary. After one year and some required volunteer work, Conservation Corps veterans qualify for financial aid for their education.
Read the story on Edison International's Online Newsroom.
