Summer Green Teams

Groundwork Providence’s Summer Green Team youth education and employment program is entering its tenth year. High school youth and their young adult supervisors attend weekly classes to learn about the urban environment and then put that knowledge to use in Providence neighborhoods. Youth help organize and participate in neighborhood beautification and improvement projects throughout the 8 weeks of the summer program. Groundwork Providence’s Green Team program is an unparalleled opportunity for inner-city high school youth and among the very few education and employment programs available in Providence exclusively for youth.

Each Green Team consists of 4 to 6 youth with one supervisor. Teams are based in neighborhoods that are closest geographically to where the youth reside, and are funded by community development corporations and local private sources. These organizations provide funding, community connections, project ideas and a home base for each team so that the work that they accomplish benefits the communities in which the youth live.

From 2006-2007, GWP employed 25 high-school aged youth as environmental stewards. Team members participated in beautifcation projects such as compost bin construction, litter pick-up, sustainable landscaping, and graffiti removal in neighborhoods across Providence.