San Diego Job Corps Help Fix Pipes at Tijuana Estuary

Make a Difference Day, a National Day of Doing Good is Saturday Oct. 22, but San Diego Job Corps students were up early Thursday morning to make a difference at the Tijuana Estuary.

Five students from San Diego Job Corps' Home Building Institute are working on an ongoing project to provide water to a building at the Tijuana Estuary.

The students will be changing valves and laying down 600 to 800 feet of underground piping that will connect the main water source to the building. 

John Gallagher, a former San Diego Job Corps student and professor who works with the Home Building Institute estimated the total cost of the project to be about $10,000.

Gallagher said that Job Corp students are providing free labor in exchange for hands-on experience.

“The students at the shop get practical training to where they learn how to do the skills, but coming out to a job like this, they get to put the skills they learned at the shop and put them into a real life setting,” Gallagher said. 

Not only do the students get to work on their plumbing skills but Gallagher said they also gain life skills from these projects such as learning how to work with customers and learning how to act professionally on the job.  

Phase two of the project is scheduled to begin Nov. 1 when they will begin to lay underground pipes.

David Schmoyer, a California State parks maintenance worker, said this isn’t the first time the Tijuana Estuary has turned to Job Corps for help.

He said recently Job Corps has done electrical work inside the exhibit area, and have also worked on irrigation projects and were actively involved in community cleanup activities.

If it wasn’t for their volunteer work, the Tijuana Estuary would have to go outside their budget for funding.

“They are saving us a lot of money because they are supplying all the labor and we are supplying the materials. That is the main motivation,” Schmoyer said.

Gallagher said Job Corps appreciates the trust that the Tijuana Estuary has in them.

“It’s great that they allow our trainees to work on their stuff,” Gallagher said.

“A lot of times people are hesitant to have trainees actually working on their real plumbing systems, so it’s great that they have the trust in the instructors to allow us to come out here.”