Transcript:
A year ago, Jacinta Goggles of Ethete, Wyoming, was working a low-paying job and feeling aimless about the future of her career.
Goggles: “I didn’t feel like I was helping anybody or doing anything particularly productive with my life.”
But now, the 28-year-old says she’s found her calling as a solar panel installer.
Last summer, Goggles attended a fully funded solar job training program for Native American women run by the nonprofit Red Cloud Renewable in South Dakota.
Over five weeks, she and about a dozen other Native women learned about solar energy and got hands-on instruction that culminated in an on-site installation for a tribal member.
Goggles: “So it was really cool to know … that we could do it, you know. It’s really cool to see that your hard work will pay off in such a short time.”
Now Goggles works as a solar installer at Energize Wind River, a group working to expand access to solar on the Wind River Reservation, where she lives.
She says if she had not had the chance to attend that training program …
Goggles: “I’d probably still be trying to find various minimum wage jobs just to support myself.”
But now, she has a career she loves – and is proud to be helping her community switch to cleaner energy.
Goggles: “This is absolutely what I want to do with my life.”
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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