THERE ARE TWO REASONS THAT A PROGRAM TO CREATE RAIN GARDENS IN HOWARD COUNTY IS A GOOD IDEA
There are two reasons that a program to create rain gardens in Howard County is a good idea, according to Cynthia Marshall.
“Employment for young adults is hard to find,” even in Howard County, she says. And stormwater runoff is a huge problem, leading to erosion and pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.
Marshall, the lead organizer of People Acting Together in Howard, an interfaith network of activists, thinks both problems can be attacked with one program.
READY – which stands, appropriately enough, for Restoring the Environment and Developing Youth – employs young adults who build rain gardens, a green technology that helps prevent stormwater runoff by retaining water that would otherwise wash pollutants across pavements, into streams and rivers and, eventually, into the Bay.
The benefits of rain gardens don’t end there, though. “They create green space,” Marshall says, “beautifying neighborhoods and communities,” and they create the opportunity for dialogue.
READY is funded in part by a grant from Howard County government, which is administered by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.
Last summer READY employed 31 young adults, who built 30 rain gardens at congregations and schools, “Places where they could double as an opportunity to educate the public,” says Marshall.
And, as it turns out, people are thirsty for ways to help. “Even many people who would not self-identify as ‘environmentalists’ care deeply about the environment,” Marshall says. The organization had more than 100 qualified applicants for the 30 positions filled last summer.
Those hires had a tremendous impact beyond the labor they provided. Once they are trained, READY employees go back to their congregations, schools and community associations and relay what they have learned. Last summer, Marshall says, they reached more than 2,000 people.
She said she is hoping to double the number of hires this summer.
allianceforthebay.org/initiatives healing-the-land/ready-program
