NEW HAVEN GREEN FUND INC

GATHER NEW HAVEN: GATHER IS ADDING A HABITAT CONSERVATION TRACK TO OUR GROWING ENTREPRENEURS (GES) YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF OUR NEW COMMUNITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANAGER, CHRISTIAN VICK. VICK BRINGS YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, SUPPORTING OUR VISION OF A ROBUST CORPS OF EFFECTIVE AND COMMITTED ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDS REFLECTING NEW HAVENS DEMOGRAPHICS. PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN NEW SKILLS AND EXPLORE CAREER AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES THAT PROTECT NATURAL RESOURCES AND OPEN SPACE WHILE OFFERING VIABLE INCOMES.THIS NEW TRACK WILL FOCUS ON NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION, PUBLIC ACCESS, AND NATURE INTERPRETATION. GES WILL PARTICIPATE IN WEEKLY WORKSHOPS ABOUT THE ECOSYSTEMS WHERE THEY WILL WORK, BASIC ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES, SPECIES IDENTIFICATION, HABITAT MANAGEMENT, TOOL USE/WORK SKILLS, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (USING VENTURE LABS ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS). TEENS ON THIS TRACK WILL PERFORM HABITAT AND INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT WORK IN OUR NATURE PRESERVES.BY IMPLEMENTING THE CONSERVATION TRACK, GATHER AIMS TO EMPOWER YOUTH TO DEVELOP AS ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDS AND ENTREPRENEURS THROUGH EDUCATION AND TRAINING, WHILE IMPROVING ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING IN AND IMPROVING PUBLIC ACCESS TO OUR NATURE PRESERVES. PARTICIPANTS GAIN KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS THAT HELP PREPARE THEM FOR POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION, THE WORKFORCE, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND TO BECOME STEWARDS OF THEIR LOCAL ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNITY LEADERS. GROWING ENTREPRENEURS ADDRESSES YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT, THE RACE-BASED OPPORTUNITY GAP, AND THE NEED TO DEVELOP THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS.THE CONSERVATION TRACK ALLOWS GATHER TO MORE THOROUGHLY INTEGRATE THE GE PROGRAM WITH OUR COMMUNITY GARDENS, URBAN FARMS, AND NATURE PRESERVES.

10,000 HAWKS FUNDING: TARGETED NEIGHBORHOODS, WHICH INCLUDE ONE OF CONNECTICUTS STATE-DESIGNATED EJ COMMUNITY, SURROUND TWEED-HVN AIRPORT AND ARE HEAVILY EXPOSED TO AIR POLLUTANTS FROM MULTIPLE MAJOR SOURCES. ACCORDING TO OUR PILOT PROJECT, THE AIRPORTS RECENT INCREASE OF BOEING 737 JET TRAFFIC HAS IMPACTED THE AREAS AIR QUALITY. THE CURRENT AND PROPOSED INCREASE OF AVIATION OPERATIONS CREATES URGENT CONCERN FOR RESIDENTS HEALTH. OUR PLAN IS TO PLACE ADVANCED, EPA-CALIBRATED MONITORS STRATEGICALLY AROUND THE AIRPORT PERIMETER TO DISTINGUISH THE SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTION OF JET EMISSIONS AT TWEED-HVN AIRPORT. ACQUIRE AND DEPLOY ADVANCED AIR-QUALITY SENSORS FOR CONTINUOUS MONITORING COLLECT AND ANALYZE RESULTING DATA, ASSESS CORRELATIONS WITH JET TRAFFIC AND OTHER TWEED OPERATIONS PUBLISH AND PRESENT REPORTS OF FINDINGSUSE ACCURATE, DEFENSIBLE DATA IN COMMUNITY-LED DECISION-MAKING REGARDING TWEED EXPANSION GENERATE A WORKING DATABASE OF ACCURATE AND APPROPRIATELY ANALYZED RELEVANT DATA ON LOCAL KEY AIR POLLUTANTSASSESS THE CURRENT IMPACT OF TWEEDS OPERATIONS ON LOCAL AIR QUALITY, AND PREDICT (BY EXTRAPOLATION) THE EFFECT OF PROPOSED AIRPORT EXPANSION ON THESE EXPOSURESINFORM LOCAL RESIDENTS OF COMMUNITY EXPOSURE TO THE DETECTED AIR POLLUTANTS DRAW ATTENTION TO THE NEED FOR ONGOING AIR QUALITY MONITORING IN THE AREA BECAUSE OF NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON COMMUNITY HEALTH.ENCOURAGE DATA-DRIVEN DECISION-MAKING WITH REGARD TO EXPANSION OF TWEED-HVN OPERATIONS.