3 minute read
A Closer Look: TTF Watershed Partnership's Annual Report FY 2020
Stories
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Using art & creativity to expand our reach & impact
The Art of Restoration
Art is one of our favorite ways to invite the community into our work. In 2019-2020, we had the opportunity to work with inspirational artist Jay Coreano on two projects: Community Cans and #LoveOurPark Murals.
In Fall 2019, more than 60 community members met on a beautiful day at Ferko Playground in Juniata Park to colorfully paint 20 trash can lids. Any opportunity to eat, laugh, and spend time with families in the park is a delight, but this art activity also called attention to the importance of keeping trash out of storm drains and our streams. Local businesses will feature the eye-catching cans in front of their stores as a friendly reminder that all of us can do our part.
Artist Jay Coreano not only led the Community Cans painting event, but in the Spring of 2020, he conceptualized and created nature murals along the Tacony Creek Park trail. The murals, featuring flora and fauna, inspire walkers to notice the wonders of the natural world around them and to participate in creating something beautiful together: children brought chalk to add their creative touch to the stenciled baby animals.
“Any opportunity to eat, laugh, and spend time with families in the park is a delight...”
Nature Delivered
While delivery vehicles became a frequent sight as the community observed Stay at Home orders, we were doing our own version of delivery, TTF-style. Proactive neighbors who started cleaning up on their walks—a practice that many adopted during the pandemic—reached out to us for clean-up kits, so we responded by delivering 75 free kits with garbage grabbers, bags, maps, and gloves to folks who wanted to pitch in and keep our trails and waterways clean.
We loaded up Creek Force 1, our van, with 25 free yard trees and delivered them to residents in partnership with TreePhilly. These trees will
combat urban heat island effect, which makes cities, and historically disinvested communities of color in particular, hotter than surrounding areas (sometimes as much as 22 degrees). To maintain safety, we physically distanced during the drop-offs but did get to exchange greetings through screen doors on more than one occasion.
Another way we have responded to challenges with creativity is our new virtual tour series, Bring Us Along! Offered in English and Spanish, the tours bring you close to a wide variety of living things you may have never noticed before. You can use your computer or smart device to access the tours and enjoy photos, videos, audio recordings, and interactive maps to learn when and where different creatures can be found and how to identify them.
Restoration Through Transformation
From Concrete Pipe to Natural Channel
Imagine a stream in a concrete half pipe running through a recreation center’s grounds. Now, imagine busting up that concrete to create a meandering creek weaving through a meadow of native plants attracting butterflies and strolling neighbors. This isn’t wishful thinking! This is a recent restoration project at Cheltenham Township’s Charles D. Conklin Jr. Pool and Recreation Center spearheaded by the TTF team. This will beautify the green space and serve as a vital step in managing polluted runoff to make our creeks healthier. Instead of impervious concrete, the new wetland’s soil, plants, and stones filter and absorb stormwater.
Welcome to A Win-Win
TTF connects people to practical solutions to real problems that threaten the health of our shared waterways. Our staff makes it easy for people to step up and do their share to keep our streams clean and healthy. Plus, who doesn’t love a win-win?
We worked with residential property owners to beautify and improve their properties at little to no cost and manage stormwater where it falls to keep pollutants out of our waterways. Through the Stream Smart Program, TTF visited neighbors near the Jenkintown Creek in Abington to audit properties to determine the best solutions. Stream Smart is funded by a Delaware River Restoration Fund Grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and is a collaborative effort led by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council for the Delaware River Watershed Initiative’s (DRWI) Upstream Suburban Philadelphia Cluster. We’re still offering property audits.
Can we visit you? Reach out to ryan@ttfwatershed.org