News
Senator Cardin, Congressman Cummings and Other Visit Green Up, Clean Up Teams
On July 12, Jackie Carrera, President & CEO of the Parks & People Foundation joined Senator Benjamin Cardin, Congressman Elijah Cummings, Morgan Grove of the USDA Forest Service, Baltimore City Council President Jack Young and other local leaders at a overgrown, dilapidated 9-acre parcel of Druid Hill Park in the Auchentoroly Terrace neighborhood of Baltimore.
The delegation was on hand to see first-hand how grants totaling $1.97 million in Recovery Act (ARRA) funding awarded to Parks & People was being used.
As chainsaws roared and trees were carried out, the buzz of activity and impressive progress on the site could not overshadow the real story: jobs. Through its ARRA USDA funding (along with other sources), Parks & People has created 35 new jobs in Baltimore City and an on-the-job green jobs training program which has already produced great success. The majority of the workers on the site in Druid Hill Park were unemployed and unskilled before coming to Parks & People’s “Green Up, Clean Up Teams.” Less than six months after being hired, the team members are using heavy equipment like pros – taking down trees, removing invasives and more. And this site is just one of almost 50 that they’ve been working on throughout Baltimore City since February.
In reference to the new green jobs and their impact on Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay, Congressman Elijah Cummings said, “We will have created a better environment for future generations; that’s what this is all about.”
Both Congressman Cummings and Senator Cardin were there in January, 2010 when Marvell Gardener lined up with almost 300 others at the Salvation Army building in West Baltimore for a job fair to hire the new Green Up, Clean Up Team members. Six months later Marvell was the media darling of the day, giving interviews to three television stations (http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/region/baltimore_city/cummings%2C-cardin-visit-%27green-jobs%27-workers-at-druid-hill-park; http://wjz.com/seenon/Cummings.Cardin.Identify.2.1799739.html)about his experiences. He spoke passionately about how his job at Parks & People has not only given him a living wage and benefits, but has provided invaluable training that he’ll use at his new job working in a green job for the City of Baltimore. “We’re giving back to our communities and these blighted areas are starting to see signs of life,” said Marvell.
The Druid Hill Park / Auchentoroly Terrace project is just one of many that the Green Up, Clean Up teams will undertake over the next 11 months. Through the aforementioned Recovery Act funding from the USDA Forest Service, the Parks & People Foundation will restore the parkland to its original condition. In addition to creating recreational opportunities for the community and reducing crime, benefits of the park restoration include improved ecosystem and forestry health, addition to the tree canopy, and improved air and water quality.
“Partnerships like the one that Parks & People has with the USDA Forest Service are absolutely critical to the work we’re doing locally in Baltimore,” said Jackie Carrera. Check the Parks & People Foundation’s website at www.parksandpeople.org for more updates.