Earth Day Spring Cleaning 2014
The Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and The Partnership for Providence Parks are once again pleased to offer a small grants program to provide funds to help with your park/green space event for Providence Earth Day Spring Cleaning 2014 on April 26. Applications and details available here. Due to snow, deadline extended to February 13.
New Friends Group at Father Lennon Park
We are so excited to have an opportunity to work with the newly formed Friends of Father Lennon Park. Thank you to the Smith Hill CDC for hosting and more! This is a unique, youth-led group with dynamic ideas and commitment to the community.
Neighborhood Performing Arts Grants
The City of Providence is now accepting proposals for Celebrate Providence! 2014 Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative (NPAI). The Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, the Department of Parks + Recreation and Partnership for Providence Parks are getting ready for another fun summer of theater, dance, music and live performances in Providence’s communities. Click here for details and application.
Grant applications are also available for the NPAI Smaller Sights and Sounds Series (for smaller or newer parks/groups) to try out some smallerscale performing arts events. Click here for details and application. Please email Wendy if you have any questions about either opportunity.
Winter/Spring Parks Academy 2014 February Workshops
Coming up in February: Fitness in your Park on the 19th and From Darkness to Light on the 26th
We are so excited to present the Parks Academy 2014. Thanks to so many fabulous community partners we are able to offer a variety of scheduled classes and others to be scheduled upon request. Thanks to a grant from the National Environment Education Fund, capacity building grants are available to groups who attend workshops to take and do an idea from the workshops. Please inquire with wendy@providenceparks.org if you are interested. To register for a workshop, click here. We will send you confirmation of class time and location. Please note that we are updating this schedule weekly.
Narragansett Bay Commission Earth Day Grants Available
Save the Dates
The next quarterly Friends and Community Partners meeting is Wednesday, March 5 at the PC Annex at 231Douglas Ave. We have so much to talk about...Earth Day, Playful Providence, Fitness Classes, Conservation, and more!
The Playful Providence Kick-off will be Saturday, June 21 at India Point Park. Details coming soon.
Park Mapping
The Partnership and several community partners and city agencies are working on a geographic mapping system for our parks...a sort of one site stop for info on our parks, events, and the groups that care for them. If you are interested in being part of a virtual conversation about what kinds of information we need to include, please email info@providenceparks.org. We would love your input!
Free Seeds from URI Outreach Center
A great opportunity for schools and community groups to get FREE SEEDS until March 15, 2014. Vegetable, flower, and herb seed packets are now available to order by schools, Boy Scout & Girl Scout troops, 4-H Clubs, community gardens, and educational/nonprofit groups for the price of postage.
Pop-Up Adventure Play Resources
Great Resources from out Friends at Pop-Up Adventure Play:
Here is a link to your free Mini Pop-Up Kit. This kit builds on our work with children around the world to help you support child-directed play for children in your home or local community. We are also pleased to announce that you can now download the Mini Pop-Up Kit in Spanish! Descargue aquí el Mini Pop-Up kit en español. You can also download our Amazing Benefits of Child-Directed Play, which can be a great resource if you'd like to advocate for play where you live. Please share with neighbors, teachers, or pediatricians - anyone who can help to support play.
Concerts at Botanical Center Conservancy in Roger Williams Park
January Urban Refuge Update
April Alix, Conservation and Education Coordinator
This month, I have had the opportunity to learn about some of the organizations that provide a variety of environmental education throughout the state. Many host programs in our wonderful Providence parks including afterschool programs, summer camp events and even some professional development courses! There is a lot of excitement around expanding these partnerships to involve the public park areas in more of their events and education programming. I have also joined the Rhode Island Environmental Education Association as a representative for our Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership with the Partnership for Providence Parks organization. This allows me to connect with a variety of groups who all have the goal of improving and expanding their environmental education involvement throughout the state. I’ve met with a few educators from two Providence schools who are currently using Blackstone Park and Neutaconkanut Park as outdoor learning spaces that supplement their curriculum in the classroom. It’s been amazing to see all the work they do with their classrooms! Most importantly, they have offered me great advice and insight as to ways our program can assist other teachers who may be interested in supplementing their classroom work with outdoor learning.
Send us your news
Let us know by the first of the month if you have any news you would like to share in our quasi-monthly newsletter.
Past Newsletters
Winter 2013
March April 2013
May June 2013
July News 2013
August News 2013
September News 2013
October News 2013
November News 2013
December News 2013
January News 2014
Partnership Office is Open
The Partnership office is open at 11 West Drive. If you need meeting space, a place to archive your group's materials, a copier, or would like to borrow some pop-up play materials, contact Wendy at wendy@providenceparks.org.
Google Groups
Our tech Guru, Geoff Meek has set up a Google group so that we can chat directly with each other. Our discussion groups are here.
You will need:
- An account with Google (Gmail, etc.)
- To request membership to the Partnership for Providence Parks group.
Once your membership is accepted (takes about 1/2 day), simply respond to one of the existing topics, or click the "New Topic" button at the top of the screen.
Using groups is just like using email, with the benefit that all members can view and respond to your messages. The group is also searchable, so you can find out what has been discussed in the past.
If you haven't signed up yet, or are having trouble with it, let Wendy know.
Facebook
Keep sending us your events and pics so we can post them. Oh..please LIKE and FRIEND us. There are some great pics up now of park events and stories in the news. http://www.facebook.com/PartnershipForProvidenceParks
Grants Available
New England Grass Roots Environmental Fund
If you have or haven't applied for a grant through the New England Grass Roots Fund (NEGEF) www.grassrootfund.org you may want to check them out. They are a great first grant to apply for. I am happy to walk anyone through this process. Seed grants are available for new groups and Grow grants for more established groups who may have already received funding from NEGEF. Go for it!
The Partnership
The Partnership for Providence Parks is a new initiative of the Providence Department of Parks and Recreation. The Partnership is a city-wide public/private non-profit 501(C)3 geared toward helping residents and community partners help our parks be active, vibrant, healthy, playful and unique places.
To learn more about the Partnership, please visit www.Providenceparks.org.
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