On June 24-26th, Team Gateway had the honor of attending Outdoor Nation’s Northeast Regional Summit in Brooklyn. During those three days, the team met with other SCA crews and youth from other environmental and outdoor organizations, such as Parks & People Foundation, REI, and state and national parks, to identify important outdoor /environmental regional issues, share ideas, and create solutions to get youth connected to the outdoors. Gateway NPC and about 200 participants received training and formed groups to create project proposals that would compete for grant money. Susan, Mason, and Bobby were part of the groups whose projects were chosen to receive that grant money. Susan’s group developed a project that aimed to “Create a mentorship program specifically geared towards breaking the cycle of generational poverty. Designed & run by youth to educate, expose, and instill leadership skills but also create a sense of ownership within their communities & destroy unspoken segregation rules of green spaces.” Mason and Bobby’s group formed a project to “Start an outdoor club in school that will receive camping/outdoor materials in order to get students interacting with the environment and learning how to use these donated materials.” Also, SCA was part of the ON University Training Session about team building. SCA crew/project leaders talked about SCA history and their experiences, partnership, team building, engaging youth from diverse backgrounds, and opportunities for grant money and creating a team. Susan spoke about her experience at New York State Green Conservation Corps, partnership, and successes at Gateway. With two days held indoors and filled with brainstorming and idea swapping, everyone was ready to Get The Fun Outdoors at Summer Fun Day on Sunday. There was music, free gear—water bottles, athletic socks and shoes—rock climbing, kayaking, sailing, biking, seining in Jamaica Bay, and plenty of ninja competitions! Overall, the youth summit was fun and educational, and Team Gateway became more aware of urban environmental issues and connected with the SCA Green Team in New Jersey!
