A panel of three local environmental organizations was held in Richardson Auditorium on March 19. The event was made possible by Beloit Community Connections as well as the School of Environment and Sustainability. Panelists included members from the Merrill Community Garden, Severson Dells Nature Center, and Welty Environmental Center, all of which operate in and around the Beloit area.
Sylvia Lopez , director of community connections, and Jay Zambito, Director of School of Environment & Sustainability both worked to make the event happen and introduced the panelists.
The Merrill Community Gardens, located in Chicago’s south side, provides a safe place for people to tend plants, reap the produce, and find community, no questions asked. The gardens seek to address food insecurity and cultivate a more sustainable, socially responsible space. Kaelyb Lokrantz, Urban Agriculture coordinator, says the gardens are there for “creating pathways out of poverty. We were really trying to help people get access to resources. You know, become more sustained.”
Severson Dells Nature Center, located in Rockford IL, is a 369-acre county forest preserve, housing native flora and fauna and provides a sanctuary for wilderness in an increasingly urbanized world. Severson Dells hosts field trip opportunities for local middle schools, hosts community events, and more.Panelist and Beloit Alum Emma Zimmerman’23 says the Severson philosophy is “Very simply, to connect people.”
Welty Environmental Center, local to Beloit, is another nature preserve where students can come and learn about the environment or even just briefly escape from urban society. Welty, according to Executive Director Branda Plakens, is “. . .an environmental education center, which means we focus on learning, and not so much on things like land management and stewardship. It’s a part of the work we do, but it’s not like we have a piece of property that we are doing restoration on or something like that. More of our work is very much focused on. Getting the public connected to nature. . .”
All three of the organizations represented were non-profits, some funded federally, such as Severson Dells, which gets money through Americorps, and others which are funded through a diverse portfolio.
The panelists spoke about both recent achievements accomplished by their respective organizations and new challenges to be overcome.
Some of these accomplishments included a field trip for all regional fifth graders to Big Hill Park in Beloit, made possible by Welty, a grant for planting native plants for, which drew in a species of critically endangered bees at Merrill, and the restoration of a golf course back into indigenous prairie lands undertaken at Severson.
Despite the not insignificant achievements of these groups, they were all careful to stress the dire situation being faced by all environmentally minded non-profits. Climate change has made weather events unpredictable, and thus made event planning, planting, and conservation much more difficult.
On top of the environmental concerns, recent policy has made it extremely difficult to operate. Federal funding can be elusive at best and incredibly hard to secure. Wildfire smoke makes it difficult to conduct outdoor education or tours, especially for people with respiratory conditions such as asthma. The presence of ICE can spook potential visitors, opting instead to not venture out in public and risk being detained.
Lokrantz spoke of his surprise at being blindsided by the government, when they gave him and the community gardens an ultimatum; take certain words and phrases like “diversity, inclusion”, and more out of official organizational documents or be defunded completely.
Despite a challenging path forward, the panel concluded on an optimistic note, calling for people to come together in defense of the environment. Students can get engaged in any of these organizations through Beloit Career Works, Community Connections, or by volunteering directly.
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