A workforce development program preparing young people for environmental jobs in Cincinnati is continuing, despite losing federal funding.
Keep Cincinnati Beautiful's Roots to Boots program pays and trains young adults from neighborhoods with low tree canopy, poor air quality and high rates of gun violence to manage green spaces.
“We are ... trying to connect young people living in these neighborhoods with employment opportunities — to make sure that someone living in South Fairmount, for example, has the same access to quality greenspaces as someone living in Hyde Park,” said Education and Youth Programs Director Kirsten Brademeyer.
The program was initially funded by a three-year, $350,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service and Urban Sustainability Directors Network.
It started off in 2025 as a year-long program that supported four people pursuing horticulture-related certificates or degrees through Cincinnati State.
Then, the federal government cancelled the grant that was funding the program. The Trump administration has clawed back billions of dollars for climate, environmental justice and sustainability projects, citing waste.
“It was Keep Cincinnati Beautiful's first ever federal grant that we had been awarded,” Brademeyer said. “So, that felt big for us, but also positioned us in a different place than some of our partners who had been relying on federal funding.”
Brademeyer says Keep Cincinnati Beautiful has been able to pivot to keep the program going — for now.
Local funding and a ‘bittersweet’ new approach
Roots to Boots received a $30,000 grant from the city’s Office of Environment and Sustainability.
“That has given us the opportunity, and kind of a little bit of a safety net, to pivot and say, ‘This is what we were doing,' " Brademeyer said. "We had this funded for three years, and now we're doing something different, and this is what that's going to look like.”
Brademeyer says the program is changing its approach as a result of losing federal funding. It’s using a shorter, cohort-based model and focusing on hands-on training.
Up to 15 participants in the new, 12-week program will learn chainsaw and equipment safety in the field, get an OSHA certification to safely apply pesticides and connect with people who have careers focused on the environment.
“It also allowed us, in kind of a bittersweet way, to recognize where our existing program wasn't meeting the needs that we set out to meet in the first place,” Brademeyer said. “I think sitting in a classroom is not necessarily always the best option for some students, they want to be getting their hands dirty more and be learning in the field.”
The program is actively looking for other sources of funding. Brademeyer says the grant from the city won’t be able to sustain the program past this year, based on the rate of interest it's seeing.
The city of Cincinnati needs more people to work green jobs as it addresses climate change through the Green Cincinnati Plan. The plan sets a goal of training 4,000 people by 2028.
Roots to Boots is recruiting people age 18-24 for its summer cohort.
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