Teens with a Purpose at Purpose Park
Starting in Fall 2025, Wetlands Watch joined forces with Teens with a Purpose (TWP), a nonprofit amplifying youth voices, to create a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional-Associates (CBLP-A) component of their existing program BloomForce. This workforce development initiative for youth aged 13-21 combats environmental, economic, and social challenges in the Young Terrance, Calvert Square, and Huntersville Norfolk neighborhoods. The culmination of this course is a CBLP-A certification that emphasizes sustainable, green infrastructure solutions to water management. At the end of the project, 24 young people earned their CBLP-A certification, learning the importance of using sustainable plant-centered solutions to manage water. Purpose Park, managed by TWP, was the location where students had the opportunity to practice what they learned.
Stacie McGraw, Wetlands Watch’s Director of Operations & Living Infrastructure, and Andre Love, Executive Director of TWP, led BloomForce’s classroom and hands-on components. The hands-on field work component included the design and installation of a conservation landscape along a path at Purpose Park to address stormwater and flooding problems in the event space.
Stacie recognizes this program’s value in getting youth involved in making their community beautiful and creating flood resilient solutions. This project helps achieve Wetland Watch’s mission by providing environmental benefits students can see in their community, while developing skillsets for accessible career opportunities. Many graduates are choosing to remain involved in the BloomForce program as peer mentors for future cohorts with an advisory role. This program and Wetlands Watch’s involvement addresses the workforce shortage surrounding green infrastructure landscaping and aims to build passion for the environment and sustainability in youth, while providing short term career-ready skills and experiences.
