Partner Organizations
The project engages educators and youth in civic ecology education programs in several community-based NGOs in the Bronx, New York City. Organizations include the Bronx River Alliance, Youth Ministries of Peace and Justice, the Point Community Development Corporation, Rocking the Boat, the Phipps Community Development Corporation, and Satellite Academy High School.
These NGOs work along the lower eight-mile section of the Bronx River in communities where most residents are Latino (48%) and African-American (31%) (U.S. Census 2000). These organizations engage youth in environmental restoration and stewardship programs, including restoration of urban forests, parks, riparian habitats, and oyster reefs, and stewardship of street trees in the Bronx River watershed.
The Bronx River Alliance
BxRA is a non-profit organization that works "to protect, improve and restore the Bronx River corridor and greenway so that they can be healthy ecological, recreational, educational, and economic resources for communities through which the River flows." Together with public and private partners, and community members, BxRA organizes ecological restoration and management in open spaces on and near the Bronx River, and provides recreation opportunities. The BxRA Education Program and other programs engage the Bronx's local activists, schools, and informal community groups in a variety of programs related to the environment, including environmental monitoring, restoration, and nature history learning. Nurturing environmental stewardship is a priority for BxRA: "We work with over 40 local schools, youth and community organizations to engage residents in the development of the Bronx River Greenway and in the river's restoration. In doing so, we develop stewards who will protect the river and open spaces for the long term" (Bronx River Alliance, 2008).
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice
YMPJ is a non-profit organization in the South Bronx that develops leadership in youth who will be capable of leading change, inspiring them for civic participation in multiple community development issues, including environmental justice. Together with partner organizations, YMPJ plays a key role in the development of the Concrete Plant Park and in the decommissioning of the Sheridan expressway to bring more green spaces around the Bronx River. YMPJ is engaging more than 30 youth at a time during summer and school year, several of whom are paid and work for 25 hours a week on environmental stewardship and activism projects.
The Point Community Development Corporation
A.C.T.I.O.N. at the Point CDC is a teen community leadership after-school education program in the Hunts Point neighborhood. "The program engages young people who work to identify social and environmental justice issues facing the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx with the goal of creating and implementing ongoing youth-led solutions." Youth who participate in this program take part in a variety of environmental projects to re-envision Hunts Point and to "implement grassroots techniques in community planning and policy, and disseminate such information to the community." Youth run environmental campaigns and environmental restorations.
Rocking the Boat
This organization involves high-school age youth in education programs to help them become empowered and responsible adults. Youth in Rocking the Boat participate in wooden boatbuilding and On-Water Education programs. About 24 youth in the On-Water Education program learn maritime skills, and participate in learning about and restoration of natural ecosystems, such as oyster reefs and native vegetation on riverbanks. Youth from Rocking the Boat, YMPJ, and A.C.T.I.O.N. at the Point participate in a group called VOICE, which helps to coordinate joint projects of their organizations.
Phipps Community Development Corporation
www.phippsny.org/programs.html
Environmental and Nutrition Education Program at Phipps CDC supports open green spaces and urban agriculture in the South Bronx. Phipps CDC currently maintains Drew Gardens, which "has become a symbol of a community-led effort to restore, improve, protect, and preserve the natural environment in an at-risk community," and combines a multicultural community gardens, urban forests, community open space and a butterfly garden on the banks of the Bronx River. In summer this program hires five high school students to work on environmental restoration and agriculture projects.
Satellite Academy High School
This high school school is providing students who are at least 16 years old with an opportunity to earn their high school diploma in a small-scale student-centered learning community. The school organizes after-school science programs and summer camp related to environmental stewardship, restoration, learning, and recreation in the Bronx River watershed.