Leadership |Stewardship | Community Engagement

Stewardship

The physical transformation of the work we do and the training that goes along with it to do so safely builds a strong community youth involvement

Food Access Work Led by Green Team

Our biggest work focus- we grow at least 750lbs of food to donate to low-income families and soup kitchens:

Urban Farm and Community Garden:

  • Beginning as early as the summer of 2017 (when we first launched) Green Team has given us consistent feedback to make food access central to our work. The first project we started as a result of this feedback was to take over the Urban Farm and Community Garden site at Riverside Park. Woebegotten, youth and community members have long advocated for this site to be fenced in. Two years ago Green Team presented to the park board and received permission to install a fence and December 2020, this goal became a reality because the fence is now installed. This project would have cost GWSC $27,000 to pay to install, but we have been able to secure this donation from the amazing support of the city and the American Fence Association. We also secured another $15,000.00 grant from MDAR (MA Department of Agricultural Resources) to build out the space inside the fence, including 150 small raised beds (as seen here) that can be adopted by community members each growing season this will also some other improvements including the next steps to ensure that the fence will be a green wall of produce/ vertical agriculture!. This will significantly transform the Coffin Ave side of Riverside Park and become a learning center for food growing and STEAM education in our community.

Partnerships

  • We are open to partners like Sister Rose House to support garden management and produce harvest to ensure that fresh, locally grown produce is distributed to low income families. (contact us) if you’d like support to manage your site

Green Team

  • Green Team is trained to do winter/spring fruit tree pruning and seeks funding to establish a robust program to map and glean fruit trees to prevent waste, distribute produce, and connect community members to fruit trees on public lands to promote self-harvesting.

Streetscapes Work

Currently on the Acushnet Ave and adjacent Green Team does 3 hours of weekly maintenance related to landscaping and trash removal of the Avenue from Coggeshall St. to Nash Rd. and cares for 1 open lot, 3 pocket parks, and 3 parking lots that are adjacent to the street. This assists business owners with the removal of trash in front of their businesses and make the Ave a more engaging place to shop, visit, dine, and live in. 

 

Urban Trails:

  • Currently on the Acushnet Ave and adjacent Green Team does 3 hours of weekly maintenance related to landscaping and trash removal of the Avenue from Coggeshall St. to Nash Rd. and cares for 1 open lot, 3 pocket parks, and 3 parking lots that are adjacent to the street. This assists business owners with the removal of trash in front of their businesses and make the Ave a more engaging place to shop, visit, dine, and live in.

Environmental Resilience:

  • Tree planting (Please see Community Engagement for our current work)
  • Riverbank Restoration: GWSC is working diligently in partnership with the City of New Bedford’s Department of Parks Recreation and Beaches to secure funding for this restoration project. Now is the time! DPI has removed the larger invasive species and we have a plan to further remove and restore this embankment. We have applied to two grants and are planning to apply to two more as well as continuing to seek additional funding to make this a reality.

Tree and Orchard Management:

  • Tree planting (Please see Community Engagement and Environmental Resilience for our current work)
  • Managing Hazelwood Park Orchard- pruning, gleaning, and engaging community members to harvest