Defensores de La Cuenca

Other programs - over the past year we have been able to engage thousands of latin@s and spanish-speakers, both in person and virtually,across the chesapeake bay watershed with the goal of building a network of latin@/e leaders who are taking action to support madre tierra, our mother earth. We create family friendly events that are welcoming andinviting to ensure the latin@/e participants have fun and make positive connections to nature. We share information about the many ways the environment impacts us and how we impact the environment.

Defensores youth corps - the Defensores youth corps (dyc) program was created to help our latino area youth graduate high school whose lack of service hours kept them from graduating. We create service opportunities for latino youth and their families to join us in our efforts to enhance our communities for healthier environments that support a healthy mind, body, and soul. We had over 700 youth volunteers that resulted in over 2,450 hours of service; we planted over 400 trees; and collected over 1.5 tons of trash.

La academia - Defensores de La Cuenca creates engagement opportunities for latinos and spanish-speakers to have positive connections with nature. These events help create opportunities for us to share about our adult training programs that help build knowledge on watershed related issues, while also paying our participants for their time and input. This program is a community-level capacity building program. We have engaged 100s and trained nearly 50 adults through this program.