children working and volunteering with UTC’s partner programs
Inspired by our newest debut column (#ThisWeekI), we love to acknowledge the wonderful organizations that work hard to create environmental awareness, building a better world for us to live in.
This week, I’m shining the community spotlight on Philly’s Urban Tree Connection (UTC).
Philadelphia has an estimated 30,000+ vacant lots, which cover the city like festering blisters of weeds and trash, often attracting unwanted drug and gang activity to low-income neighborhoods.
Urban Tree Connection is a non-profit organization that “engages children and adults from some of Philadelphia’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods in community-based, urban-greening projects”.
Urban Tree Connection’s mission is to help low-income urban communities rebuild their neighborhoods. By converting abandoned lots into safe havens and operational gardens, they inspire positive human interaction, promote communal living, and beautify neighborhoods.
It’s crucial to involve neighborhood children in this process because they are the future, so UTC works hard to educate them about urban reforestation and urban gardening.
Since 2006, Urban Tree Connection has grown vegetables as part of their Growing Healthy initiative, a gardening and health education program that endorses the advantages of healthy eating and physical activity. The urban gardens provide a wonderful variety of economic, environmental, health-related and social benefits for the involved community.
Anyone can donate or volunteer at Urban Tree Connection.
CHILDREN PROGRAMS (4-18 yrs): Each After-school and summer children’s program takes an informal approach to educational enrichment, fostering creative play, discovery and active learning in a natural setting.
TEEN PROGRAMS: Each program helps teens to apprentice under the supervision of experienced UTC landscaping staff, and developing trade skills and behaviors needed to secure future employment in the field of landscaping and gardening.
PARTNER PROGRAMS: UTC connects with other community organizations and non-profits to provide maximum learning and gardening opportunities.
URBAN FARMING: All UTC urban farming projects supply vegetables to CSA members and community-subsidized farmers market and into the Rittenhouse Square farmers market.
PERENNIAL GARDENS: UTC’s community perennial gardens were constructed to both displace drug houses that block captains had removed, and to give seniors a place to sit and enjoy the outdoors in safe and secure gardens.
Readers, what do you think about UTC? Who should our next local spotlight shine upon?
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