Verde Outreach & Advocacy

Verde began for two reasons: First, the sustainable development community had not meaningfully engaged the Latino community or other disadvantaged communities. Second, community development efforts, existing efforts to create jobs and businesses for Portland's disadvantaged communities, had not seriously engaged sustainable development.

So, we share our experiences with Hacienda CDC's resident community, Community Development groups and with Environmental Groups, working with them to build new partnerships and new connections between economic opportunity and environmental protection

Hacienda CDC

Expresiones
Verde, Hacienda CDC, SOLV, the Columbia Slough Watershed Council, and City of Portland Clean Rivers Education are working together to develop and implement a Classroom Watershed Curriculum, and Field Installation and Propagation opportunities to participants in Hacienda CDC's Expresiones program, an after-school program for middle-school students.

This Curriculum includes such topics as Environmental Values, Your Watershed, Hacienda CDC Installations, Plant Identification, Plant Production, Community Presentations, and Connecting Watershed and Economic Sustainability. Students will also participate in a series of Verde-led stormwater management projects on Hacienda CDC properties, and in propagation activities in the Nursery's Training Greenhouse.

Expresiones: Environmental Values Session Ortiz Center, 10.3.2007	Expresiones: Environmental Values Session Los Jardines, 10.2.2007

Plaza Los Robles
Plaza Los Robles is Hacienda CDC's new farmworker housing project in Molalla, OR, in the Pudding River Watershed. Completed in late 2007, Plaza los Robles has significant environmental assets, particularly a series of 4 bioswales which feed stormwater runoff into an enhanced, adjacent wetland. In February 2008, 4 Nursery Crew Members and Verde's Executive Director hosted a 45-minute bilingual presentation 40+ Plaza los Robles residents.

This presentation was designed by Verde and Greenworks, a Portland-area Landscape Architect firm. Its purpose was to educate the resident community and property management about bioswales and bioswale maintenance so these environmental assets will continue to perform the environmental functions for which they were designed and installed. Bilingual handouts were distributed, and Crew Members answered participant questions. This presentation was funded by the Enterprise Foundation's Green Communities program.

Click an item below to enlarge.

Nursery Crew Members present bioswale information	Bilingual Bioswale Flyer

Community Development Groups
Building off a model developed at Hacienda CDC housing, the Nursery has now combined outreach activities with commercial landscape maintenance services, and offers this combined service to other CDC communities. In addition maintaining a CDC's property, Nursery Crew Members build watershed awareness among a resident community.

Through 1-on-1 conversations, flyers, photos and other media, Nursery Crew members share information on watershed health, on-site environmental assets, other activities in their watershed, and of their own experiences - including the connection between watershed health and their own economic opportunities.

Environmental Groups
Verde shares our experiences with Environmental Organizations, working with them to identify economic opportunities created by environmental policies, and to ensure that disadvantaged communities can access those economic opportunities.