The Warren Health Equity Zone recently completed what its project director Kristin Read deemed a very successful inaugural summer youth internship program focused on the town's tree canopy and green spaces.

The program was sourced through an urban forestry and community project grant the Warren HEZ received from the Rhode Island Department of Health in February of this year. 

The state-wide endeavor aims to assist municipalities as they contend with the rising heat indexes cities and towns face due to climate change and the presence of significant impervious surfaces.

With that in mind, the youth internship locally was centered on the Warren HEZ's on-going effort to plant trees around the town and to tend to gardens in the area such as those on Baker and Water Streets and at the post office on Child Streets along with the "blue pots" that dot Main Street in association with the Warren Volunteer Gardeners group.



"So heat is increasing as a concern for people's health and wellness. And so trees are kind of a natural solution. If we can have more trees, more tree canopy, you can reduce the temperature in a house," Read explained. "You can reduce the need for spending a lot on electricity to cool your house. You know, it can really save lives. And as weather is getting more extreme, as we're having more extreme heat, sort of longer, more days of heat that shade is really important."

The Warren HEZ has worked extensively with the Warren Tree Commission and other town entities to address the situation, including the summer internship that was an attempt to "build a little bit on a workforce pipeline" among young residents who may aspire to pursue a career in the environmental sector.

Read said the grant will afford the HEZ to coordinate resources for the town, bringing regional experts, local expertise and resident voice together, to inform the management of the town’s urban forest and support investments in tree care and planting.

An Urban Forest is a collection of green spaces that help reduce heat, store water, clean air, buffer noise, provide animal habitat and are critical to our health and wellness.

Two teens, both Warren residents and Mt. Hope High School students Desmond Blackbeard and Bryce Pavao, participated in the program.

"So we have students explore green industry jobs and help with some of the maintenance this summer," said Read. "Because there were no new trees planted, we were spending time cleaning the tree pits and pruning the chutes that came off the trees because you need to train and maintain the trees in order for the trees to take root and to grow to be these really important infrastructure for shade and for storing water and, of course, scrubbing the air of pollutants."

Trees are a significant component of the Warren HEZ's attention, but so, too, are other green spaces. Those elements provided a logical entry point for youngsters involved with the internship program to begin their training.

"So where we started with the youth was having them sort of build their skills, and they did that through helping with civic groups at different public spaces," said Read. "And so what they were doing was they were watering. They were making sure that those plants had what they needed in this heat of the summer or else they just sort of all perish. And they were also just building their competencies, building their skills."

The interns spent time watering the aforementioned "blue pots" located in front of businesses that happen to be closed at the start of the week. They also took part in the building of a new sensory garden at the Corliss Center and helped the Warren Conservation Commission maintain the trail near the East Bay Bike Path on Brown Street. In addition, they tended to the outdoor learning zone at Kickemuit Middle School and assisted clean-up debris following the severe storm/squall that struck the area on July 3. They're also likely to be involved in HEZ tree planting projects planned for the fall.

The internship was mentored by Megan Conway, the Warren HEZ's Forestry Community Health Worker, of whom Read said, "Megan is someone with deep knowledge of the environment and sort of a naturalist herself. I think they've made a real difference around town this summer and now we have two very knowledgeable people who are connected to civic groups to become volunteers and who might pursue this as a career once they get out of high school."

The grant from the RIDOH is for three years, affording the Warren HEZ the breathing room needed to nurture the internship program.

"We learned a lot this summer. We hope to have interns for three seasons: fall, spring and summer," Read added.
"In the fall, we're going to be doing a lot of tree planting here in Warren, and they'll help sort of help catalyze volunteers and make sure that we have handouts for neighbors who we want to invite to help with maintaining the trees in front of their properties or the business owners. And so there will be a lot of more work to be done certainly over the next couple of years."

For more information about the program or to become an intern email warrenhez@ebcap.org or call 401-431-9870, ext. 1635.