At our 2020 Annual Meeting we spent some time reflecting on how MyRWA has adapted to 2020 and how we are looking forward to 2021. We hope you enjoy these opening remarks from Patrick Herron, Executive Director:
“To start out the program I want to honor and acknowledge that we are on Wampanoag and Massachusett tribal lands, and we are grateful to be here.
I want to also acknowledge everyone here for coming out to be with us tonight. We recognize that 2020 has not been an easy year.
COVID-19 has forced us to be apart—and reimagine how we can accomplish our work and keep connected. Black Lives Matter has shown that we need to do more about systemic racism in all aspects of American life. The number of people out in parks has shown that people want and need a clean healthy environment.
I am proud to share with you how MyRWA has been stepping up:
We are finding new ways to engage with volunteers and our communities. Hopefully some of you have been able to join us at one of our dozen webinars---featuring our staff and outside experts. A highlight of these efforts includes the reporting out of the grade for the Mystic River—normally we only see a dozen people at the announcement, but with Zoom we had more than 100. We hosted not one, but two virtual Herring Run and Paddles. Though we can’t host large events—we have instead been hosting many independent and remote volunteer efforts. For our April TrashTag challenge we actually cleaned up more litter than in the prior year.
We are continuing along our journey toward becoming a more equitable and just organization. What does this mean in a tangible way?:
Of the six Mystic Greenways projects we are leading, five are in areas with high environmental justice populations. The Malden River Works project is a model for community engagement and how we hope to work moving forward. We are working in the Lower Mystic to protect public health and resilience. In our education efforts we are prioritizing STEM education in communities not traditionally served.
We know this is not enough though, and we have a lot to learn— so we are getting some training. We are happy to be working with Brandy Brooks at One Square World on equity and justice training training for board and staff, and guidance on integrating this in an actionable way. We want to ensure our programs are driven by our communities, for our communities, and that our staff and board are leading the way in these efforts.
We are doing our best work to make sure the environment is healthy and we have parks and paths for people to find respite and enjoy. I am going to give an example that is near and dear to my heart—water quality. Recently, MyRWA completed a five year study that shows that we have to reduce nutrients coming into the river by 60%. Most of these nutrients come from runoff in our highly urbanized system. We piloted trenches and rain gardens in partnership with the Town of Arlington in 2018 and 2019, and now have been awarded 3 separate state grants to build 270 trenches throughout the watershed from Everett to Winchester. We now have almost 3/4 million in funding for one coordinated idea: small, inexpensive structures that can collectively have a big impact on phosphorus pollution and on future municipal practices. The US EPA and the Commonwealth support this initiative.
I am so happy to have everyone in this “room” as partners in these efforts—and we look forward to working with you in 2021. Thank you.”
We hope you enjoy our 2020 reflection video created by an outstanding volunteer, Caroline Brown:
