Main menu

About Us

Learn who we are, what we do, and how to keep in touch.

Get Involved

Find info on volunteering, neighborhood activities, jobs and internships.

Projects

Browse our hundreds of projects around the city.

Services

Locate and access the many vital services we provide.

Workforce Development

 

Every day we fulfill our mission of keeping our neighborhoods clean, green, safe and beautiful, while providing City residents who face barriers to employment or who are exploring career paths a chance to work and earn a living.

Together with nonprofits we promote employment opportunities for teens and adults who are in and out of school, formerly incarcerated men and women, people who are homeless and other residents who have little or no job experience. Through on-the-job-training, help with resume writing, interview preparation and education, we emphasize the importance of job-readiness and prepare individuals for stable and productive income opportunities that benefit the community. 

Hunters Point Family

Hunters Point Family empowers youth, young adults and formerly incarcerated at-risk residents. Participants are given the opportunity to re-enter society as stewards of their community and gain customer service, problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills. Hunters Point Family provides Public Works with monitors for the highly successful Pit Stop public restroom program, in partnership with the nonprofit organization Urban Alchemy. Monitors are responsible for ensuring the general safety, cleanliness and availability of Pit Stops throughout the City. Hunters Point Family also provides participants for the Tenderloin and SoMa Clean program, which supports the City's efforts to provide safe, clean and inviting public spaces by removing litter and other waste fro sidewalks, corridors and the right of way in the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods.

 

Civic

Civic provides a training ground for adults who have completed a long process of rehabilitation on a path to apprenticeships educational programs and expanded employment opportunities. Its mission is to provide innovative solutions to help solve some of the most pressing problems facing our community. Civic has three workforce development programs: Construction Ambassador Program, On/Off Ramp Litter Reduction Services, and Tenderloin Clean.
 

Community Youth Center

The Community Youth Center empowers and strengthens a diverse population of San Francisco youth and their families by providing comprehensive youth development. With a focus on low-income, high-need and at-risk Asian Americans, the organization provides job placement and employment training, crisis intervention and more. Participants can work with either the Citywide Steam Cleaning program, which provides steam cleaning services throughout the City, or the Litter Receptacle Cleaning program, which provides steam cleaning on trash cans located on sidewalks throughout the City. 
 

Friends of the Urban Forest

Friends of the Urban Forest's mission is to promote a larger, healthier urban forest as part of San Francisco's green infrastructure through community planting, tree care, education and advocacy. Offering a variety of programs, they grow the City's urban forest while bringing neighbors together and empowering residents to make their neighborhoods greener. Participants in the Tree Planting and Establishment program with Public Works, provide tree planting, tree establishment and after-plating care for thousands of street trees. 
 

Human Services Agency

Human Services Agency is a City and County of San Francisco department that promotes the well-being and self-sufficiency of San Francisco residents through their subsidized job placement program, JobsNow. JobsNow provides low-income residents with employment services and the opportunity to be a part of the Public Works Corridors Program. Participants of the Corridors Program assist Public Works with sweeping sidewalks and curbs, cleaning tree basins and abating graffiti from public furniture and buildings. They work in many neighborhoods throughout the City, focusing on commercial corridors and popular destinations for both residents and visitors.
 

San Francisco Clean City Coalition

San Francisco Clean City Coalition focuses on cleaning, greening and beautifying the City. The organization offers a four-month transitional workforce program that brings quality of life resources to neighborhood groups, merchant associations and residents. SF Clean City provides staff for the Tree Watering Services and Workforce Development program and the Landscape Maintenance Services program, which provides safe and well-maintained public planting areas and medians that are part of Public Works' many streetscape improvement projects.
 

San Francisco Parks Alliance

San Francisco Parks Alliance strives to champion, transform and activate parks and public spaces throughout the City through innovative partnerships with community groups, government agencies and local businesses. In partnership with the nonprofit organization Urban Alchemy, San Francisco Parks Alliance provides staff for the Civic Center Commons program. Participants are responsible for monitoring activity, answering questions, picking up waste and ensuring the enjoyment and safety of the many public installations  in the Civic Center/ United Nations Plaza vicinity. 
 

Mission Neighborhood Centers

Mission Neighborhood Centers provides a continuum of educational and workforce development programs built on the foundation of empowerment, cultural affirmation and personal responsibility. Each program has unique attributes and caters to a specific demographic group, while focusing on promoting leadership skills among underserved youth and preparing them for entering the workforce. Programs include: Young Adult-Year Round; Interrupt, Organize, Predict (I.P.O.) Youth Violence Prevention, Summer Youth Employment, and the Ambassador Program. All of the programs emphasize neighborhood cleaning and landscape maintenance, litter removal and reporting and removing graffiti and illegal dumping.

Lower Polk Community Benefit District

The Lower Polk Community Benefit District is a nonprofit Community Benefit District organization that brings public and private stakeholders together to improve the quality of life in the Lower Polk Neighborhood, a 22-block area along the Polk Street corridor. Staff at the Lower Polk Community Benefit District maintain the cleanliness of the community's public spaces and sidewalks and monitor the nearby Pit Stop public restroom.

Summer Student Internship Program

Public Works offers an internship program that allows college students to grow in the engineering, architecture, information technology, planning and project management fields through hands-on experience and mentorship opportunities with skilled professionals. The internship program prepares students for a smooth transition into the workforce and exposes them to the possibilities of a career with Public Works. Student interns assist and provide support to staff working on large-scale projects throughout San Francisco. Over the course of their internship, students gain pertinent planning, design and building experience by performing site visits and inspections, preparing cost estimates, creating models, drafting plans and developing reports and presentations.

Apprenticeship Program

Public Works, in partnership with the Department of Human Resources and local unions, offers a variety of apprenticeship programs that give young adults and others entering the workforce or changing careers the opportunity to gain on-the-job training as cement workers, gardeners, laborers and environmental service workers. Our apprenticeship programs provide detailed training on how to use tools, equipment and materials, while working side-by-side skilled Public Works employees. At the end of the program, apprentices may be given the chance to transition into a full-time position with Public Works.