For immediate release
For more information contact:
Robin Corathers, Executive Director, Groundwork Cincinnati - Mill Creek 513-731-8400 or robin@groundworkcincinnati.org
Enesta Jones, Press Contact for EPA, 202-564-7873 or jones.enesta@epa.gov
Diana Toledo, River Network 828-258-2109 or dtoledo@rivernetwork.org
Ann-Marie Mitroff, Groundwork USA 914-375-2151 or annmarie@groundworkhv.org
Groundwork Cincinnati - Mill Creek Appointed As National Urban Waters Fellow
The Cincinnati-based nonprofit Groundwork Cincinnati - Mill Creek is one of ten organizations in the country to be selected, through a national competition, to serve as an Urban Waters Fellow for the new Urban Waters Training Network. The Network is cosponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and by two national nonprofits, River Network and Groundwork USA.
Diana Toledo, Southeast Program Manager with River Network, said Groundwork USA and River Network vetted one hundred and fourteen Urban Waters applications, and “Groundwork Cincinnati - Mill Creek’s stood out. The nonprofit has forged diverse partnerships and has creativity, strength and determination. They intend to make Mill Creek a treasured resource and community asset in Greater Cincinnati.”
Groundwork Cincinnati - Mill Creek executive director Robin Corathers said “As a society, we can no longer afford to write off our urban rivers. Indeed, those rivers have been instrumental in the historic growth and development of urban areas and they are critically needed today to ensure the livability and sustainability of cities in the 21rst Century. This national fellowship and EPA’s concerted focus on urban waters is timely and most welcome.”
Nancy Stoner, Acting Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Water, said “There is a range of health and environmental challenges facing our urban waters today -- but each challenge is matched by an incredible opportunity to transform distressed urban waterfronts into centerpieces for community revitalization," said. “Urban waters have the potential to support healthy environments, economic development, and educational and recreational activities."
Groundwork Cincinnati - Mill Creek will benefit over the next two years from intensive training, ranging from organizational capacity-building to urban river regeneration strategies. In return, Groundwork Cincinnati - Mill Creek will serve as a peer mentor to other Fellows within the Training Network and as a model for other urban river organizations in the country.
Groundwork Cincinnati - Mill Creek is a dynamic nonprofit created in 1994 whose work focuses on youth, environmental education, clean water, planting trees, building trails, revitalizing neighborhoods, and engaging the public in river improvements. To date, Groundwork Cincinnati - Mill Creek has provided year-round environmental education programming for over 25,000 students and has completed twenty-four projects to regenerate and enhance wildlife habitat, wetlands, streambanks and floodplains along the river and its tributary streams.
This year, Groundwork Cincinnati - Mill Creek is working to build another 1.5 miles of the Mill Creek Greenway Trail in Cincinnati, for public use for transportation, recreation, education, and outdoor exercise. When complete, the 13.5 mile multi-purpose trail in Cincinnati will serve one-third to one-half of the City’s neighborhoods. Corathers said “making neighborhoods pedestrian and bicycle friendly is a key component in creating more livable and sustainable communities.”
Ann-Marie Mitroff, River Programs Director for Groundwork USA, said the nine other Urban Waters Fellows selected for the Training Network include:
- The Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition (Seattle, Washington).
- Groundwork Buffalo (Buffalo, New York).
- Plaster Creek Stewards (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
- Village Creek Human and Environmental Justice (Birmingham, Alabama).
- West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (Atlanta, Georgia).
- Groundwork Denver (Denver, Colorado).
- Park River Watershed Revitalization (Hartford, Connecticut).
- Prescott Creeks Association (Prescott, Arizona).
- River Des Peres Watershed Coalition (St. Louis, Missouri).
