This youth program is transforming Gowanus, one green block at a time
We’re celebrating Earth Day by highlighting New Yorkers and organizations who are building a better future for our city’s public space. The folks at Gowanus Canal Conservancy are doing just that. The nonprofit advocates and cares for ecologically sustainable parks and public spaces in the Gowanus lowlands, with a focus on empowering a community of stewards, many of them young people. We spoke with Aurelia Casey, youth program senior manager at GCC, about her work’s impact on the community, city, and climate.
Tell us a little about Gowanus Canal Conservancy and the work you do there.
GCC is an organization that centers environmental stewardship for the Gowanus Canal and the communities that surround it. I am the Youth Program Senior Manager; my main work focuses on our high school apprenticeship program, Green Team, servicing our borough’s youth population. This work is crucial; we seek to provide employment and learning opportunities in the green jobs industry, a field that is currently lacking in diversity of not just people of color, but those coming from urban spaces. Green Team allows for youth development through collaborative work, intergenerational learning, community engagement, and of course, horticulture. I truly love getting to uplift our most marginalized group, in my opinion, our youth.
What did you love most about your work?
Honestly, working with others. I truly love collaborating with people. Community is such a major part of my upbringing, and I love that this job doesn’t feel like a job; it feels like community building. Being able to teach our youth about environmental science through hands-on learning using our Gowanus community as our main resource is amazing. I love when the teens have their ‘eureka’, when they realize that they aren’t too young to be changemakers, to use their green voice, and advocate and implement change for environmental justice.
How would you say your work contributes to the vibrancy of blocks and the larger neighborhood?
Our work is pivotal. GCC enables Green Team to contribute to our community at large. Because it’s an apprenticeship program, youth get to work with different departments with GCC and get to work directly with staff to see what we do beyond the hands-on work. Of course, the hands-on work of the youth working in our native plant nursery, planting native flora in our rain gardens, and working on tree stewardship allows for the young people to see the tangible results of their hard work. The real contribution is often intangible, because it’s an internal shift we witness happen in our youth. Most of Green Team hails from the Gowanus, so this work goes beyond teaching them how to beautify the neighborhood. They gain a new connection between themselves and the neighborhood; this connection is now with the green spaces, and the understanding of how important the work is for their area.
What impact do you see your work making with the students you work with?
As I mentioned before, seeing the youth’s mindset towards urban conservation shift in real time as the program goes on is the best part of this work. Some of them enter the program with some knowledge on conservation, and some enter with absolutely none. By the time August rolls around, our youth are identifying native species, are making lifestyle changes such as reusing, recycling, and composting, and telling their friends about what they’ve learned and how they can implement these new ideas into their everyday lives moving forward. More importantly, our youth are growing confidence in themselves, and therefore feeling more empowered to enter adulthood. They’re able to do public speaking, have a better understanding of environmental science, and know how to be team players, all essential things for them to continue to succeed in this life.
Tell us what livable streets and sidewalks mean to you.
Livable streets and sidewalks means safe streets to me. I firmly believe a better looking community starts with giving people resources to make the community what they desire it to be. For all, that is a safe place. That is a place that looks healthy. That is a place that honors culture and history. To make our streets livable, we have to work closely with community members and ask them what they want, and not enter them with what we want for them. Many New Yorkers want trees and plants lining their streets, they’re just not sure on how to take care of them. So those resources include education. If we have the right knowledge, we can make our city safer, and a safer city for humans means a safer and thriving city for our green spaces.
What’s your greatest wish for the future of your work and NYC?
I am still young. I want to live and work for this city’s green spaces long enough to see some fruits of my labor. Those fruits would be youth that I’ve taught coming back and joining this career field in some capacity, or even leading a community garden or community-based environmental stewardship program. As for NYC, I’m a born and raised NYC native. I want to see this city put its natives first when it comes to beautifying green spaces. And there’s a way to do that without pushing natives out. It all starts with proper resources and education. And I will advocate for that until my time on this Earth is done.
Aurelia Casey is a native New Yorker raised between Staten Island and BedStuy, Brooklyn. She obtained her masters in youth studies focusing on urban environmental education, and has worked in the intersection of environmental education, community outreach, and youth development for 10 years. Aurelia now serves as the Youth Program Senior Manager for Gowanus Canal Conservancy, leading their high school environmental stewardship apprenticeship program.