- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of Think Tank with Steve Adubato has been provided by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Making a difference.

PSEG Foundation.

New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities.

Providing New Jersey residents tools to save money on energy costs.

That’s what NJBPU does.

The North Ward Center.

New Jersey Institute of Technology.

NJIT makes industry ready professionals in all STEM fields.

Bergen New Bridge Medical Center.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

And by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

Keeping communities informed and connected.

And by Insider NJ.

[MOTIVATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

This is another edition of our series "Making a Difference" with a whole range of people who are making a difference in not-for-profit organizations.

This program focuses on environmental justice and sustainability.

And let me introduce our distinguished panel.

Ron Hine is founding member and executive director of the Fund for a Better Waterfront, a 2024 Russ Berrie Making a Difference winner.

Jose German-Gomez is the founder of Northeast Earth Coalition, a 2023 Russ Berrie Making a Difference winner.

And finally, Kim Gaddy is back with us again.

She is the founder and executive director of the South Ward, that's of Newark, New Jersey, South Ward Environmental Alliance, a 2021 Russ Berrie Making a Difference winner.

Thank you all for for joining us.

We appreciate it.

Kim, let me start with you, because people, I can't assume that people know whatever your organization is, 30 seconds or less, describe your organization, we'll put up the website.

- Well, thank you, Steve.

The South Ward Environmental Alliance is an environmental justice organization, and we focus on empowering our residents to understand how important it is to breathe clean air, have access to safe, affordable drinking water, and food justice.

We allow individuals to have a seat at the table and meaningful participation in the narrative of what they want their community to look like.

So it's all about making sure all of our voices are heard and we could live in healthy, thriving communities.

- Well said.

Ron, your organization?

- We began 35 years ago.

We won a public referendum over a City of Hoboken Port Authority Plan for the waterfront in Hoboken, which we defeated.

And at that point, we were faced with the opportunity to come up with our own plan for the waterfront, our own vision of what could be.

At that point, none of Hoboken's waterfront had been developed, and we hired a urban planner who guided us through the planning process.

And the key that we've been advocating for ever since is that the traditional public street grid would be extended down to the waterfront, and the last street, Sinatra Drive, would be our line in the sand, would divide the upland private development from a public continuous park along the water's edge.

And today, we are very close to achieving that goal.

- Got it.

Jose, please.

The Northeast Earth Coalition is, go ahead.

- The Northeast Earth Coalition is a volunteer-driven environmental nonprofit organization.

I started working as an environmental activist going back to 50 years.

This year is our 50th anniversary.

But I moved to New Jersey 25 years ago, and since I came to New Jersey, I started working in different community projects.

And in 2016, we incorporated the Northeast Earth Coalition.

We have several programs.

One is environmental education, community outreach.

We also have other urban farming program which provide education about how to produce their own food.

And we have also the Community Food Network, which is operating in five towns and is a network of different organizations, churches, and synagogues.

And we have 14 organizations supporting the program and 250 volunteers providing food for people facing food insecurity.

In addition to that, we also have six community gardens, in Montclair, Bloomfield, and Passaic, and long-term environmental restoration projects in Florham Park, Greenwood, Paterson, New Jersey, Bloomfield, and Passaic.

- Thank you, Jose.

Kim, let me ask you this, the term environmental justice, describe what not just the term means, but the reality of environmental justice as it relates to the community you serve in the South Ward in the city of Newark.

What does environmental justice look like?

What should it look like?

Go ahead.

- Yes, you know, we fight for environmental justice because of the environmental injustices that overburden communities like Newark and the South Ward communities suffer from.

And so environmental justice looks like clean streets, beautiful trees to buffer the pollution from the air, thriving neighborhoods, and the ability for residents to be a part of the narrative of what their community to look like.

So we say "Kujichagulia", self-determination, and we know that it is up to us because no one is coming to save us, so we must save ourselves.

And so we instill in our residents that you must have the self-determination to determine what it is that you want your community to look like because the pollution is here today, but you have the ability to change that for the next generations in the future of our great city.

- Got it.

And Ron, let me ask you again, this Making a Difference Panel talks about environmental justice and sustainability.

Connect, quote unquote, sustainability to the work that you and your colleagues are doing over in Hoboken.

- Well, one of the problems with the development of New Jersey's Hudson River Waterfront is that developers have been, to a large extent, driving the planning process.

And we were able to prevent that from happening in Hoboken by coming up with our own plan.

And the premise that we started with is that the waterfront belongs to the public.

So no matter what walk of life you come from, you come down to Hoboken's waterfront, and you know that it's truly a public space that belongs to you.

So that's the premise we started with.

And over time, that's proved to be true.

Elsewhere along the Hudson River Waterfront, it's harder to access the waterfront.

You have a 30 foot state-mandated public walkway, but when it abuts private development or if there's a private enclave abutting it, you don't have that same sense that it's a public space that belongs to you.

- But Ron, let me follow up on this real quick.

For those who advocate for economic development, we wanna bring in revenue, rate-ables if you will, to a community.

How do you balance that effort on the part of city officials, government officials, and developers who want to do that, obviously to make money on the developer end, but public officials would argue, well, we get more rate-ables, they're paying taxes.

What the heck is the balance between that and environmental sanity, what makes sense for the community?

- So at Hoboken South Waterfront, the master developer was the Port Authority.

And they put up the money to develop the park to extend the street system in, the sewer system.

And by extending the street grid down to the waterfront, you have three new blocks for private development.

And that paid for all that infrastructure work, including the park.

We did the same thing at the North Waterfront, the Maxwell Place development, which was some of the most valuable real estate in town, there's four new blocks of private development, which then paid for the park that was built at that part of the waterfront.

- All along the Hudson River?

- We're talking about Hoboken.

- All along the Hudson River, you know, you have a lot of different approaches to how that part of the waterfront should be developed.

But typically, as I said before, private developers were driving the planning process.

So there's a lack of a public treat system to take you down to the waterfront.

There's no separation between what's public and what's private.

So in Hoboken, we really do have a model for the way to do it in a manner that benefits everyone.

- Got it.

Jose, let me ask you this.

Talk about food insecurity issues, issues of people struggling to get healthy, affordable, accessible food through gardening.

Be more specific there, please.

- Yes.

One of the things that we realized is that you'll teach people to learn how to grow their own food.

You will be making a huge transformation in the life of people facing food insecurity.

And that is basically what we do.

We teach them how to plant vegetable in a seasonal approach, also in a eco-friendly way.

So no pesticide, no chemicals, that is improving.

Also, we are using a technique which is extending the gardening season, and also we teach them how to preserve food, how to preserve seed, and then we compliment the approach with the Community Food Network, providing them dry and canned food during the year.

So that is a project is running 24/7, with volunteers, we are running the program at 250.

We are operating in five towns, and last year long, we distributed 380,000 pounds of food, dried and canned food, and over 10,000 pounds of vegetable locally grown.

- And these are obviously some of the reasons why all three of our panelists, making a difference, have been awardees of the Russ Berrie Making a Difference award.

Kim, let me come back to you and ask you this.

Superstorm Sandy had what impact on the people of the South Ward from an environmental perspective, please, Kim?

- Yes, when Super Sandy hit, the Port Authority of Newark, New Jersey was under 20 feet of water.

- Wait, hold on, say that again, Kim.

- Yes.

We were under 20 feet of water at our port.

And so the South Ward community and the Ironbound community sit dead to the left and the right of the port.

And so our South Ward, Dayton Street neighborhood specifically, homes were flooded.

We had industries there where some of the polluting facilities, they had foam coming into people's home because we didn't know exactly what factory it might have been coming from.

The power was out, the Dayton Street neighborhood is home to over 3,500 senior citizens that live in Newark Housing Authority.

They didn't have power for about two to three weeks.

And so communities were just devastated.

They couldn't communicate with our elders and the streets were flooded, which end up now flooding our basements and hard to travel throughout our communities.

- Kim, I'm sorry for interrupting, but one change, one policy change, one action that has been taken based on what happened in Superstorm Sandy that would protect the South Ward of Newark community in a much more effective way moving forward if something like that were to happen again.

- And so one change for us is we made sure that we created a cohesive environment and community where we could better communicate with our family and residents so that we can be there to assist them because help was not readily available or accessible, right?

And so we had to have community members that assisted the senior citizens from coming downstairs.

The elevators didn't work, bringing food up to them.

So we made sure that we began to create community resilience, right?

And we are focusing on green infrastructure as a first line of defense because we also understand that we cannot continue to have blacktop throughout our communities.

We have to look at different ways to reduce the flooding.

And then more importantly, I think what helped us along the way is that individuals began to understand that climate change is real and that we have to begin to change some of the things that we're doing because the storms are not going to stop.

As you've seen from the other day.

they're gonna come with more torrential rains.

And so we have to be prepared for them.

- Yeah, by the way, we're taping in the middle of July, and so even though this would be seen later, as we were speaking, the amount of rain that came down was extraordinary, and has... We don't need to tell folks here the devastating impact flooding could have.

Ron, let me ask you this real quick.

In terms of... if I use the term resilient waterfronts in light of what Kim was just saying, what does that mean for you, your organization, and the people you serve, a resilient waterfront?

Please, Ron.

- Well, we did learn a lot from Sandy, and the next day, I was down on the waterfront, and I could see a dramatic difference between a landscape design that was able to withstand that storm and other parts of the waterfront that weren't.

At Maxwell Place Park, all of the London plain trees that had been planted there came down in the storm, because they were not planted properly.

At the south waterfront, we have an award-winning landscape design for that park and all of the London plant trees, the groves on Purity Park along the promenade, all of those trees were able to survive because they were planted properly.

So that was a big lesson for us.

- Ron, real quick, before we go back to Jose, to what degree has it been critical for you to engage citizens in Hoboken as to why they need to be invested in this, and it's not just the job of government officials or not-for-profit organizations making a difference?

How the heck have you engaged folks?

- Well, it's a ongoing process.

At different stages, the strategy might change.

When we had our referendum ballots, back in 1990 and 1992, we depended on the voters to support our side of the issue, and they came through and it's a constant struggle over the years to reengage with them, to educate them about the value of a public waterfront, you know, why they should be invested in that.

So like, it really is an ongoing battle, and we just have to persist in order to make sure that the public stays engaged.

- Jose, let me ask you this, the issue of sustainability, the term sustainability connect it back to the work that you and your colleagues are doing.

Someone says sustainability, sustaining what, and what does it have to do with the Northeast Earth Coalition and your work?

Sustainability, sustaining what?

- Well, sustaining the way of life of the people who we serve, number one.

We advocate for local legislation to make the township more clear, more sustainable.

We are basing more clear.

Because of that, we have been getting approved all demands that we have submitted.

One of them, the community guidelines, community garden guidelines, that was approved in 2017, then we passed the ordinance for native vegetation, where we are prioritizing the public space to be planted with native trees and plants, also, the pesticide ban in public space.

In addition to that, that is improving, obviously, the hurt of people in the community, and that is sustainable, because if we are not polluting the environment, and then the backyard chickens and then other ordinance including pollinator city, and other programs, but the idea is to teach children at the public school level about sustainability, what they can do at home, because everything begin at home.

So we are teaching them how to compost, how to reuse, renew our energy, how to protect wildlife and the forestry, and that is an ongoing program that has been bringing great results.

Montclair is leading in many ways in New Jersey, in environment that are sustainability.

- Yeah, and as a resident of Montclair, I'm very aware of the work that you and your colleagues are doing.

It's making a difference.

Kim, let me come back to you.

I asked Ron about this, about engaging people.

So in the South Ward of Newark, and you know that I was born and raised in the northern section of the city, the North Ward of Newark, and I know the South Ward quite well, but I would argue this, that it's gotta be challenging in terms of engaging people, engaging people who are struggling to pay their bills, to make ends meet, to keep their kids safe, to get a decent education in the school system.

To what degree has it been challenging for you and your colleagues at the Southward Environmental Alliance to engage folks in these issues when they're saying, "You're kidding me?

I gotta pay my bills."

How do you engage and connect with people in that way, Kim?

- Yes, we, first of all, and thank you for this question, we are able to meet people where they are, right?

- What does that mean?

- And so if there's an issue in the school, we go to the PTA meeting.

We don't make parents come to another meeting.

We meet them where they are, and we talk about the environmental issues right there in the school, and, specifically, we have created what we call the Green Alliance Leadership Academy, and this academy allows us- - Hold on, the Green Alliance, the Green Alliance Leadership Academy, go ahead.

- Yes, and we have three categories, our gala businesses where we are focusing on the South Ward businesses to equip them to ensure that, now, they can develop the skills that they need and opportunities to thrive and be a part of this emerging green economy.

We have a gala youth.

We just finished a 10-week leadership training program with Avon Avenue School students, because they are the next generation.

So we want to teach them about environmental justice and how to engage community for advocacy, and then the last one is our gala, Green Alliance Leadership Academy for Passports to Green Jobs and Careers, where that's a 16-week program.

We received $1.2 million from the DEP through the initiative from First Lady Murphy, and through this program we take in 120 South Ward residents through a 16-week program to teach them how to organize and advocate for themselves, how to understand development so that you can speak before a planning board, a zoning board, right, how to ensure that you understand that we don't have to be dependent upon a fossil fuel industry, and my mother always told me, Steve, when you know better, you do better, and so our environmental legacy, a history that led to this investment in our communities is not our future, and so we make sure that we are training up all of the individuals who live in the south ward and the three neighborhoods to empower themselves to now have that real seat at the table and understand that, yes, my school system might not work for my child, but, now, I know how to advocate and speak at a school board meeting.

Oh, this development is happening in my community.

Now, I need to know that I can go down to this zoning or planning board and to address these issues because our environment is at the core of everything.

It's where we live.

- That's right.

- It's where we pray.

It's where our children go to school, and it's where we work.

- Well, said.

Ron, let me ask you something.

You know, each one of you had won the Russ Berrie Making a Difference Award, and by the way, to be clear, folks, it's a cash award.

It's great recognition and is a cash award.

Ron, when you and your organization received that award back in, well, 2024, what impact did that have on the work of you and your colleagues in the organization?

- Well, it was a validation of our, you know, more than three decades of work.

You know, we have tried to influence public policy, not just in Hoboken but for the entire Hudson River Waterfront community, and to a large degree, it's a uphill battle.

You know, new elected officials come into office, and we're in a constant struggle to try to convince them that there is a proper way to plan and develop our community, and by getting this award from the Russ Berrie Foundation, it really helped to validate us and to give us credibility in our advocacy work.

- Yeah, and let me let folks know, the Russ Berrie Foundation, about to celebrate its 30th anniversary, 30 years of recognizing people making a difference, and I've been proud to emcee that event for all those years, and next year will be the 30th, and we look forward to that.

Jose, let me ask you this.

Winning that award means what to you and your colleagues?

Got a minute left.

- Yeah, it means to me a lot, number one, because the date of the ceremony, when I saw the video, I was surrounded by my board members.

I was looking at them, and they were in tears, and I didn't realize, you know, the value of the things that we were doing, because we were doing good work for the community without expecting any recognition, but the recognition from the Russ Berrie Award helped us to raise public awareness of what we do.

The publicity was tremendous.

After that, we were featured 72 times in New Jersey newspapers and three times in New York City news network, even we got more recognition from other organization, but the most important thing about receiving, being an honorary of the Russ Berrie Award was our commitment to serve the community with the same passion and same force is now deeper.

- To you, Jose, to Ron, to Kim, first, we congratulate you for the work that you and your colleagues are doing every day.

You are making a difference.

This has been part of our Making a Difference Series, examining environmental justice and sustainability.

We thank you all so much.

Keep up the good work, thank you.

- [Ron & Jose] Thank you.

- I'm Steve Adubato, those are three leaders making a difference every day.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

PSEG Foundation.

New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities.

The North Ward Center.

New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Bergen New Bridge Medical Center.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

And by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by Insider NJ.

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