EarthWorks Projects

CONTACT:

34 Linwood St.
Roxbury, MA 02119
617-442-1059
www.earthworksboston.org

Maurice Loiselle, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

Boston philanthropy has long used natural greenery as a restorative influence. Olmsted followed traditional precedents -- the Common, the Public Garden and Commonwealth Avenue -- when he conceived the Emerald Necklace, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, and the Arnold Arboretum. All began as private, not public, initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life. EarthWorks (est. 1990) is in that great tradition, applying it to low-income urban neighborhoods, where neighbors have to solve neighborhood problems themselves. Its main programs -- Urban Orchards, the Urban Wilds Restoration Project, and Outdoor Classrooms -- answer the question of what to do with nature in the inner city; how to do it, given few resources, is through collaborations with philanthropic and public institutions. What has been accomplished? Educational small gardens and fruit orchards on school grounds; restoration of natural ecological functions in 24 of Boston’s 39 city-owned “wild” areas; establishing as policy planting native species (not invasive exotics) on public land; cleaning up trash; involving 1,000 students in about 40 public school classes in outdoor environmental learning; and producing healthy neighborhood-grown food. The grand tradition lives, and here is your chance to join it!

(2003: NATURE: Environment: Urban Environment)