As a program director at the Brooklyn Community Foundation, I’m used to seeing the impact that larger funding can have on a community. And each week when my bus turns the corner of Greene and Franklin on the edge of Clinton Hill and Bedford Stuyvesant, I see the incredible results of even the most modest donations or grants on our neighborhoods.
Sure, homegrown community gardeners and nascent environmental activists can work together to build rainwater collection units, build compost bins from packing flats discarded by Home Depot, sponsor weekly movie nights for families, organize summer story hours for children to encourage environmental stewardship, and build raised planting beds for seniors and children to grow more produce for the local emergency food pantry.
But these things can’t happen without dedicated people, a plan of action and resources.
For more than a decade, Brooklyn Community Foundation has provided micro-grants to help people reach their potential–whether it be helping a neighborhood group clean out a vacant lot or helping a PTA provide after school activities. The Foundation believes and invests in Brooklyn.
And this year, we’re thrilled to partner with ioby to help Brooklynites create Green Communities that protect and create open spaces, parks and community gardens. The 2011 Spring Match will make donations to eligible ioby Brooklyn projects go further by matching donations of up to $200 dollar-for-dollar. That means a $10 donation becomes $20, $25 becomes $50 and so on until we’ve raised $10,000 for these great causes.
As a member of my community garden (shout out to Stars of Hope), I know first-hand the powerful results that micro-grants can have on our neighborhoods. Not only do they enable the purchase much-needed supplies and tools, they also allow people to conduct the outreach that is essential to sustain interest in and activity around a neighborhood project.
Something as simple as having gloves and bottled water for a spring planting party will draw people inside a community garden like bees to honey. And while the will and desire is always present, the tools and resources are often the only barrier between a vacant, trash-strewn lot and a verdant, peaceful community space.
Participating Spring Match projects, which have been reviewed and vetted by ioby and Brooklyn Community Foundation staff, each meet an identified community need–perhaps a need within your community. I hope you’ll take a moment to donate and help us make Brooklyn the greenest place in NYC.
About the Author:
Toya Williford is a Program Director at the Brooklyn Community Foundation. Launched in 2009 as the borough’s largest philanthropic institution, Brooklyn Community Foundation improves the lives of people in Brooklyn by strengthening communities through local giving, grantmaking and community service. Learn more at BrooklynCommunityFoundation.org. Follow them @DoGoodBklyn
Registration limited to 12 people, $125 fee. Taught by John Burke of Maine Solar Energy Association assisted by Tracy Fitz of City Solar. To register send a check with name, phone number, and email, to City Solar, 531A 6th Avenue Brookyn, NY 11215. If registration fills up another workshop will be scheduled.
For more information please contact Tracy Fitz at City Solar, 347-254-0019, tracy@citysolar.org or tracy@citysolar.us
and visit www.citysolar.org or www.citysolar.us.
No foolin! Due to the enthusiastic response we’ve received so far, the deadline has been extended until midnight on Monday, April 4th, for Brooklyn projects to qualify for the Brooklyn Community Foundation match. Projects must be volunteer-led, in Brooklyn with budgets less than $1,000.
Contact Helen Ho with questions.
Open Volunteer Days
Volunteer days are a great way to get to know our farms, meet the youth and
gardeners involved in our project, and learn a little bit about sustainable
urban agriculture. No registration is necessary, just come ready to work and
get dirty, and bring some water and a snack.
First and Third Saturdays, 10AM-2PM
UCC Youth Farm
Schenck Avenue between New Lots and Livonia Avenues
Second and Fourth Saturdays, 10AM-2PM
Hands and Heart Garden
New Lots Avenue between Alabama and Georgia Avenues
Note: The closest trains to Hands and Heart are the L to New Lots or the 3 to
Pennsylvania.
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Volunteers Needed – Children’s Story Hour
Volunteer at our farmers’ market and coordinate Children’s Story Hour. We are
looking for individuals who will commit to 3 Saturdays or more during our
market season. You would receive community service hours.
Skills:
- Seeking volunteers, to host 1 hour activity for small children (children
ranging 5 – 10 years old).
- Must be enthusiastic, creative, friendly, patient and able to work well with
kids
- Must be 18 or over
- Must be available to work outdoors from 11:30 – 1:00 on Saturdays
Activities can include, but not limited to: reading stories, arts & crafts,
face-painting, games, cooking demos, workshops. Supplies would be provided.
For more details or to schedule an interview, contact
janelle@eastnewyorkfarms.org
*****
Newsletter Volunteers Needed
UCC is seeking contributors and organizers for it’s brand new newsletter, set
to debut in the spring.
Contributors – send in articles pertaining to the development/current state of
our community, events and discussion topics (op-eds.)
Organizers – help to produce and distribute the newsletter.
For more details, contact janelle@eastnewyorkfarms.org
*****
Directions: Take the #3 train to Van Siclen Avenue. After exiting through the
turnstyles, take the stairs to the right. At the bottom of the stairs continue
walking straight, you will be on Van Siclen Avenue. At the corner, take a left
onto New Lots Avenue and walk two blocks to the corner of New Lots and Schenck
Avenues. Our office is the brightly painted building that says “United
Community Centers.” The UCC Youth Farm and our farmers’ market (Saturdays
June– Nov) are here too, just around the corner on Schenck Avenue between New
Lots and Livonia.
What can Texas teach us? Join the New York Restoration Project and the New York Preservation Archive Project delve into the rich history of grassroots environmental activism in the state famous for Longhorns, oil and barbeque. In a series of more than 200 videotaped oral histories, Texan conservationists, ranging from humble farmers to environmental attorneys, share their personal stories and passions.
Join the discussion with David Weisman, the filmmaker of the Texas Legacy Project, Anthony Wood, founder of the New York Preservation Archive Project, Eric Goldstein of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Felicia Mayro of the Neighborhood Preservation Center for this exciting conversation.
Tuesday, April 5, 6:30-8:30pm
World Monuments Fund
Empire State Building
350 5th Avenue, Suite 2412
Admission $5
Due to security at the Empire State Building, RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED. Please call 212-988-8379 or email mcoody@nypap.org to RSVP.
Photo by Urban Omnibus
April is Streets Month at Municipal Arts Society.
Streets comprise more than a quarter of the city’s land area. They are where New Yorkers do business, socialize, play and gather. Their design and maintenance have a direct impact on the livability of neighborhoods across the city.
MAS has two provocative programs coming up on April 4 and April 12. We’ll hear from Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan as well as Gil Peñalosa, who transformed streets in Bogotá, Colombia, and John Norquist, president of the Congress for the New Urbanism and former mayor of Milwaukee.
Shared Streets: Making it Work
Monday, April 4, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Reception to follow.
Scholastic Auditorium, 557 Broadway at Prince Street.
$15, $10 MAS members and students. Register online or call 212 935 2075.
APA and AIA credits are pending.
Streets provide critical connective tissue in cities, not only ensuring the movement of people and goods, but also underpinning much of the social, commercial and cultural vibrancy of a city. What practices are cities around the world adopting to make streets more than just corridors for moving traffic? Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has advanced an ambitious rethinking of New York City’s streets. What effect have Select Bus Service, dedicated bicycle lanes, pedestrian plazas, and other initiatives had on livability in New York?
Introduction:
* Janette Sadik-Khan, New York City Transportation Commissioner
Moderator:
* Andrea Bernstein, WNYC, director of the Transportation Nation Project
Panelists:
* Gil Peñalosa, executive director of 8-80 Cities and former commissioner of Parks, Sports and Recreation in Bogotá, Colombia
* Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign
* Sam Schwartz, president, chief executive officer and founder of Sam Schwartz Engineering
*****************************************************
Big Streets: Using and Reusing City Thoroughfares
Tuesday, April 12, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Reception to follow
New York Institute of Technology Auditorium, 1871 Broadway at 62nd Street. MAP.
$15, $10 MAS members and students. Register online or call 212 935 2075.
APA and AIA credits are pending.
As populations in cities around the world continue to grow, and gridlock becomes more prevalent, we are witnessing creative ways of dramatically repurposing the street infrastructure built decades ago. In some cities, this has included the removal of elevated highways, altering the transportation modes and reconnecting original neighborhoods. Other cities have intensified uses under existing expressway infrastructure, or upgraded landscaping and urban design features that make the areas more walkable and transit-friendly. New York City has many options to improve its largest thoroughfares. What should be our priority in addressing the fates of our elevated routes like the Sheridan Expressway? Panelists will discuss their experience with leveraging the potential of infrastructure in the context of urban design and other ideas for repurposing roadways to make them more appropriate for the way urban citizens now use them.
Introduction:
* John Norquist, president of the Congress for the New Urbanism and former mayor of Milwaukee
Moderator:
* Michael Grynbaum, The New York Times
Panelists:
* Joan Byron, director of policy at the Pratt Center for Community Development
* Marion Weiss, principal of Weiss/Manfredi
* Vaughn Fauria, president of NewCorp Inc., based in New Orleans
These programs are made possible through the generous support of The Rockefeller Foundation and their annual Jane Jacobs Medal. Jane Jacobs recognized the vital role of streets in strengthening city life by providing opportunities for civilizing and enjoying interactions between people and their surroundings.
