The City of Newburgh Conservation Advisory Council (CAC), Outdoor Promise, and Greater Newburgh Parks Conservancy hosted on a fall, sunny-filled day, Saturday, in Tyrone Crabb Memorial Park the Environmental Justice Fellowship program provided with pizza, soup, music, and pamphlets.

The fellowship program funded through the courtesy of the Arbor Day Foundation and TD Bank, is pursuing an improvement to neighborhoods that lacked natural keepsakes and tree canopies. In each of the wards of the city, the program planted four trees each, 16 in total. The CAC matched that number of trees using city funds. There are now 32 to 33 trees planted within the city.

Within the neighborhoods of Newburgh, the Latino and Black communities are the main focus for the fellowship. This inaugural group of female members spearheaded the outreach portion of the program. Each of these fellows went out to survey and have collected information that helped in the creation of a course for both English and Spanish speakers to learn more about tree planting and care. With this program, the fellows spoke about the allowance of accessibility for residents who may not have access to this type of information. This program is set to release the following week. The fellowship includes four native born Newburgh residents some of whom are bilingual: Marichen Montiel Hertling, Heidy Bonilla, Kathryn McKenzie, and Ameesah Cotten.

Montiel Hertling, 20, is a current junior student at Mount Saint Mary College. Serving as president in the sustainability club at her school, her passion and interest encouraged her to apply to the fellowship program though the CAC, with a little help from one of her professors in school. In the city itself, Montiel Hertling encourages tree care and environmental awareness for her fellow residents. “A little bit that you can do can make a big change,” Montiel Hertling said.

Bonilla, 20, became involved in the fellowship program through her high school science teacher. With this fellowship, her hope is to support her latino community in the programming that is offered and to encourage more awareness. “I enjoy this fellowship,” Bonilla said. For Bonilla, taking care of the present creates a better future for the environment. “We live here. We have to make this place good for us. Our children are going to spend their time here,” Bonilla said.

McKenzie, 25, became involved in the environment by developing a green thumb during the pandemic, doing her own research on taking care of her fathers garden. With this program, she is happy for the support from the city and community. She encourages her neighbors to come together, support each other and join in their goals for a better environment. “Go out into your public spaces, go meet your neighbors,” McKenzie said. “The more people you know, the more you know about your community, the more you love it.”

Cotten, 19, was not in attendance for the event due to school commitments. Cotten hopes her neighbors step out of their comfort zones and take full advantage of the information offered through the program.

Joining the fellowship and gathering of residents were Councilman Anthony Grice, Councilwomen Karen Mejia and Ramona Monteverde, and soon to be Councilwoman Giselle Martinez.

Kathy Lawrence, Board Chair of Greater Newburgh Parks Conservancy and Ronald Zorrilla, founder of Outdoor Promise are grateful for the work they have done with the fellowship and enjoying the celebration. They are both grateful for the support from the city and the residents who are becoming involved in environmental care.

As the event continued, the fellows, council members and organizers took several minutes to each share their thanks and appreciation to all who came out to celebrate the day with them. The music and food continued soon after.