Torbin Green is our next #EveryStoryCounts feature! Torbin started out as a classroom volunteer at the St. Francis Neighborhood Center in Baltimore's Reservoir Hill neighborhood six years ago. Today, he is the center's Operations & Program Director. When COVID-19 hit Baltimore in March, he came up with a plan to make sure that none of the children in the center's after-school program lacked the ability to learn. Due to their close relationships with the families they serve, staff quickly realized that even more support was needed to weather the crisis. Now, Torbin and his team are distributing hundreds of free boxes of produce each week, and he has become an advocate for fresh food access in West Baltimore. 

Roxane Prettyman, of the First Mount Calvary Baptist Church (and Resiliency Hub) in Sandtown-Winchester, received the Baltimore Sun's Hero of the Week award for her work to support her community during the pandemic! "She serves as the church’s community outreach director in addition to being in charge of the culinary work. In the community, she’s an elected Baltimore City Democratic State Central Committee member, vice president of the Western Police District Community Relations Council and vice president of the Fulton Community Association."

Our Office is so proud of Roxane's work, and we are thrilled to continue supporting and partnering with First Mount Calvary Baptist Church through our community Resiliency Hub Program. To learn more about our Resiliency Hub Program, please see this recent article by the Pew Charitable Trusts that features our work.

City Council Bill 20-0546, which would update the City’s Forest Conservation Program, is currently being considered by the Baltimore City Council. The purpose of the Forest Conservation Program is to minimize the loss of existing trees and forests in the City during development. The bill will update the current regulations to incorporate exiting policy, comply with State requirements, and coordinate with other City environmental requirements. The bill is the result of months of research, collaboration, and stakeholder feedback, and a first step towards addressing our Sustainability Plan strategies and actions that support the protection and long-term health of trees and forests.

The City of Baltimore is in the process of identifying nuisance flooding locations and developing a Nuisance Flood Plan, as mandated by the State of Maryland, House Bill 1427 (2019). As part of this effort, we would love for you to fill out this short survey and share your experiences with nuisance flooding in Baltimore! We will be collecting responses through Monday 8/24.

Nuisance flooding, also known as “sunny day flooding,” is defined as high tide flooding that causes disruptions to daily activities. It can occur with or without precipitation and is expected to increase in the coming years due to anticipated sea level rise, particularly in areas like Fells Point. Our Office is documenting the impacts of this type of flooding and identifying actions that may mitigate this hazard.

Through our Green Schools and Cities Connecting Children to Nature initiatives, the Baltimore Office of Sustainability has been supporting schools in creating outdoor classrooms for many years. Ample research shows that time outside is healthy both physically and mentally, and that kids even absorb information better in an outdoor setting! Check out this article from The Atlantic entitled "Why Can't We Just Have Class Outside", which explores how outdoor classrooms are also a strategy to reduce risk from COVID-19 and one that's been successfully used to keep students and teachers safe from past epidemics.

Looking for a fun, outdoor, socially distanced, AND helpful activity? Try sidewalk chalk Storm Drain Art! Storm drains carry water straight from our streets to our waterways, but they also carry whatever else washes in, including trash and pollutants. You can help keep the Chesapeake Bay, our harbor, and our streams clean by reminding people not to litter and showing where those drains lead. What better way to do this than with street art right on the storm drain!

Getting the right paint and stencils can be tricky these days, but sidewalk chalk is a great, easy, kid-friendly way to make art. Try creating informational messages and pictures around your nearest storm drain, and make sure to tag us @sustainbmore in pictures of your creations!

FYI -- Blue Water Baltimore has been holding virtual workshops on making storm drain art, so if you want to learn from them, check out this calendar.