New Ways to Connect People to the River
The Neponset Greenway offers people many ways to connect with the Neponset River, nature, and the communities around it—whether they come to walk, bike, watch wildlife, enjoy nature, meet neighbors, or simply spend time outdoors.
As part of our Resilient Neponset Program, we’re committed to finding creative ways to make the parks and Greenway more resilient to climate change and more welcoming and useful to more people in nearby communities.
Our Community Liaison program is one way we’re doing that.
Community Liaisons Make Connections
We’ve recruited Community Liaisons (CLs) from across the Neponset Watershed through a Regional Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program grant.
CLs are local leaders who create and host unique outreach events that connect with their communities in new ways, build climate resilience, and create opportunities to talk about climate change. The goal is to connect with audiences that often are not otherwise engaged with the River and climate resilience issues.
To date, our Community Liaison program has offered seven events, including:
- Mindfulness in nature
- Climate change + hopeful visioning
- Building rain gardens
- Understanding heat impacts
- Mandala arts in nature
- Neponset Greenway historical bike tour
In one example, this spring, our Community Liaison Brenda from Dorchester worked with local volunteers in the Lower Neponset to bring neighbors together to create a lasting resource for the community: Little Libraries along the Neponset Greenway.
Together, attendees assembled and painted three Little Libraries, creating colorful new gathering spots along the Greenway.
The libraries are now installed at Ryan Playground in Mattapan, Pope John Paul II Park at Hallett Street in Dorchester, and along the Greenway between Central Avenue in Milton and the Baker’s Factory/Dam.
One of the libraries has a “green roof” that will be planted in the spring. Green roofs are a climate and stormwater adaptation where building roofs are covered with a thin layer of soil and planted with vegetation. They help reduce urban heat islands, absorb rainfall to improve water quality and reduce flooding, and provide wildlife habitat in places where there would otherwise be only urban hardscape.
Creating New Reasons to Visit the Greenway
Little Libraries are a familiar way to build community and make books more accessible, particularly in neighborhoods where access to books and reading materials can be limited.
The libraries are one way we can create more opportunities for people to use and enjoy the Greenway while supporting a community need.
Help Keep the Greenway Little Libraries Going
Help us keep the Greenway Little Libraries stocked with books for the community!
Donate your gently used books of any genre at the NepRWA office, 2173 Washington Street, Canton. Please place books in the bins at the side entrance near the office door, facing the parking lot.
Questions or comments? Please email NepRWA Community Engagement Strategist Karen Groce-Horan at groce-horan@neponset.org.
Why Little Libraries Matter
While many of us have ample access to books and reading materials in our daily lives, this is not the case in some communities.
Many areas of Greater Boston, including neighborhoods along the Neponset Greenway, are identified as Book Equity Focal Areas, defined as neighborhoods where households are less likely to have 100 or more books at home.
Little Libraries can help expand access to books while creating a fun way for neighbors to build community and share resources.
The strength of those community connections is a key factor in helping communities build greater resilience to climate impacts.
Learn more about the issue of book access and Book Equity mapping by the nonprofit Book Oasis.
