One of the first urban conservation corps in the country, the San Jose Conservation Corps was founded in 1987 to meet the growing need for job training opportunities. San Jose City Council members and SJCC founders Susan Hammer and Shirley Lewis recognized the potential of the job training model of the original 1933 Civilian Conservation Corps and with strong support from the City of San Jose, SJCC began operations with over 20 corpsmembers in January 1988. 

 

Always evolving to address the changing landscapes of employment, education, and the environment, the early SJCC+CS programs included: Natural Resources job training (1988–), CalRecycle recycling job training (1990–), YouthBuild U.S.A. AmeriCorps education awards (1994–), Youth Corps high school after-school and summer job training (1994-2007), US Department of Labor YouthBuild construction job training (1998–2013), and the SJCC Charter School under the East Side Union High School District (2002–). 

 

Recent programs have been committed to facing the impacts of the housing crisis, the growing need for post-secondary education, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. SJCC started building tiny homes as transitional housing (2018–), provided food assistance and operational assistance of emergency shelters during COVID-19 (2020-2023), and established the Resilience Corps job training program in partnership with the City of San Jose (2021–).

 

SJCC+CS is committed to our mission to develop young adults to create transformational change for our community and our planet through our motto: Service to self, Service to community, Service to environment.