Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council
Our Purpose
Our purpose is to build capacity among resident and student leaders in the impaired and climate vulnerable lower Woonasquatucket River Watershed (WRW) neighborhoods of Olneyville, Hartford and Manton, to develop criteria, relationships, and projects that address prevalent environmental justice and public health challenges: 1) Climate change related flooding from excessive stormwater and sea level rise; 2) Poor water, air and habitat quality; 3) Urban Heat Island; and 4) Proximity to transportation. This project will help to coalesce diverse groups of mostly Spanish speaking resident and students already engaged in leadership enabling them to conduct outreach, create plans, develop closer relationships with centers of power and direct resources where they are needed most to assure their own safety and resilience.To uplift and amplify climate justice and resilience from within, this project builds upon the successful launch of WRWC’s New Voices/Nuevas Voces (NV) program in 2019, and WRWC’s long standing high school Environmental Leaders (EL) program previously funded over many years through NEGEF’s Young Leaders Grant Program. This proposal ensures grant projects and outputs are developed by and for the residents most impacted by causative and curative factors, piloting the pathway to greater power sharing in on-the-ground resilience building. It also provides for deep resident engagement and student leadership development.