So, You Want to Volunteer?
If you want to volunteer, please check out our Volunteer Page. When it comes to our volunteering program, we are looking take things to the next level with a dedicated, county-wide conservation corps that will learn the nuanced work of maintaining and restoring the ecosystems at our parks. Ideally these individuals would be retired from their field of work and looking for an opportunity to give back. We need YOUR help to make this a reality.
This is a long time coming, and it began with an effort to create a youth volunteer corps, which after much probing, ended up being an unrealistic expectation. Once we shifted our focus from younger to older, things started to fall into place. This became clearer after our Green Neighborhood Challenge Survey, where 75% of respondents were over the age of 50 and 2/3 were interested in volunteering.
The premise for this program will likely involve three, three-hour trainings on how to manage open space with a certification to follow. After this, corps members will participate in our habitat restoration and community beautification events to the point where they are working on their own and even leading their own events on site. Additional certifications will follow as corps members advance their work and experience.
This effort will not only help us better maintain our open space, but would potentially open up NeighborSpace to new sources of funding that will further support this program and stewardship of our parks. In essence, this effort has the potential to create a domino effect that will lead to more high-quality open space in YOUR communities.
Aside from that, this will be a fun opportunity to meet other like-minded individuals, while spending time in nature all for the purpose of helping build a sustainable environment, community and economy throughout the inner suburbs of Baltimore County.
Are you intrigued? Please help us by filling out our survey to not only shape this program, but to see if this is a good fit for you!