Participants in the LEAD the Shore pilot program discuss ideas for building community resilience.
The question of “what’s next?” echoed amongst participants gathered at the Preston Town Hall in early December. The group of 19, mostly hailing from the village of Jonestown and the surrounding Caroline County, had just completed their final day of Envision the Choptank’s LEAD the Shore program–and they were already hungry for more. In the days and weeks to come, using their unique talents and interests, LEAD graduates were able to leverage the resources and skills they learned in the program to take on new roles in their communities. One such graduate has taken on a Community Ambassador role, serving as a key conduit for Envision the Choptank to engage with another disenfranchised Eastern Shore community. Another graduate recently served on a workgroup panel for Maryland Commission on Climate Change, bringing a new lens through which the group can view this important work. Several LEAD participants are members of the Jonestown Community Development Corporation (JCDC), a community-based non-profit group working to promote community economic development in the village. The members are now working to refine their story and strategic plan.
An acronym for Leadership, Education, Advocacy, and Development, LEAD the Shore is a shared learning and leadership development program designed to equip residents of disenfranchised communities with the tools they need for effective civic engagement to address climate change and other natural resource-related issues. Envision’s program was inspired by a similar initiative developed by the Foundation for Louisiana called LEAD the Coast. The program grew out of the understanding that, in our region, disenfranchised communities and particularly communities of color, are often the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. These communities, however, tend to be left out of the planning processes geared towards addressing climate change and, as a result, do not have direct access to the resources needed to overcome these challenges. The LEAD the Shore program seeks to address this by:
Providing communities with the information, skills, resources, and connections to identify an issue, who to go to for help, or how to take action independently;
Creating a space for conversations and relationship-building so that residents can discuss current needs and concerns as well as the future legacy of their community;
Inspiring community engagement around environmental and community development issues so that residents can contribute to building a safe, healthy, and resilient community; and
Strengthening community power to support residents in taking on leadership roles and impacting decision-making to affect positive change in their own community.
The process of adapting the Louisiana program to meet the needs of disenfranchised communities in the Choptank watershed began back in 2021. Members of Envision’s Engaging Disenfranchised Communities workgroup met with program managers and trainers from the Foundation for Louisiana to learn more about the program and how it had evolved over time. In the fall of 2022, the workgroup formed a project team with representatives from state and federal agencies, environmental and community-based nonprofits, and Community Ambassadors from Jonestown, a historically Black community in Caroline County that has been working with Envision since 2019 to address stormwater flooding challenges through community-based restoration plans. Over the next several months, the project team worked to apply lessons learned through the Louisiana program and modify program goals and curriculum to meet the needs of local communities. In particular, the project team focused the program on climate change impacts most relevant to disenfranchised communities in the Choptank watershed, including human health effects and increased precipitation due to higher intensity storm events, and tailored the curriculum to include other environmental and community development issues specifically relevant to the community of Jonestown.
To help facilitate the program, Envision brought in Doncella Wilson, co-founder and co-executive director of Minary’s Dream Alliance and former council member of the town of Denton, and Darius Johnson, an independent consultant specializing in cultural heritage preservation, community development, and storytelling. Wilson and Johnson worked with the Envision Partnership Coordinators, Emily Thorpe and Joanna Ogburn, to identify guest speakers to deliver each of the program topics through interactive and locally-relevant presentations and skill-building exercises.
“The time I spent developing and facilitating LEAD the Shore allowed me to support and learn with a community that reminded me of my own. With a program like this, I think it's important to recognize that we - facilitators, community developers, funders, etc. - have just as much to learn from the communities we serve, as they do from us. For that reason, we scanned our networks for speakers who could identify with the Caroline County community and genuinely connect with them. That proved to be important because the participants had plenty of hard-hitting questions for those who entered the space.”
- Darius Johnson, on his role as a facilitator of the LEAD the Shore Program
In total, the program brought together 20 guest speakers from a wide variety of backgrounds, ranging from a local community organizer with the NAACP to an environmental justice attorney with a regional nonprofit to an elected official from Crisfield, Maryland. A number of Envision partners also provided presentations, including ShoreRivers, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Mt. Pleasant Acres Heritage, Minary’s Dream Alliance, Choose Clean Water Coalition, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, UMD Sea Grant Extension, Chesapeake Bay Trust, and National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. Guest speakers and facilitators presented on topics related to climate change, water quality, environmental justice, restoration, resilience, community organizing, network mapping, community mapping, government systems, advocacy, civic engagement, and accessing funding and technical assistance.
“It was a rewarding experience working with the LEAD the Shore Program! Advising participants on resources, funding opportunities, and potential partners can make a significant impact on their success. Helping them navigate these aspects will hopefully pave the way for them to achieve their goals and make a positive difference in their communities.”
-Doncella Wilson, LMSW, Executive Director at Minary’s Dream Alliance, Inc
(Left) Program facilitator, Darius Johnson, chats with participants during a haywagon ride at Mt. Pleasant Acres Farm. (Right) Doncella Wilson, program facilitator and co-founder of Minary’s Dream Alliance, and Darran Tilghman, guest speaker and Director of Community Engagement for ShoreRivers, share Minary’s’s experience overcoming challenges with government systems.
For many participants, a highlight of the program was a field trip to Mt. Pleasant Acres Farm in Preston, MD. Owned by Envision Steering Committee member Paulette Greene and partner Donna Dear, the farm was once part of a larger plantation where Harriet Tubman helped her parents and brothers escape slavery. At the farm, the group reflected on the importance of community and continuing to honor and build upon the legacy of previous generations. Participants then traveled by haywagon to The Witness Tree, a towering tulip poplar with a spiritual presence. Gathered in a clearing in the woods, several participants stretched their arms around the trunk of the tree in a loving embrace and one gathered soil from its base to commemorate the visit. During a following session, participants were asked to share their favorite places in nature. Whether their own backyard, a nearby park or stream, or The Witness Tree, nearly every participant named a place in their community that they enjoy visiting again and again.
LEAD the Shore participants gather for a group picture under The Witness Tree at Mt. Pleasant Acres Farm.
Participants also enjoyed working with a Landscape Architect and PhD Candidate from Morgan State University to create maps of their community, highlighting existing community assets and identifying opportunities to enhance community resilience. Residents of Jonestown identified the community park and former Jonestown School as assets, but felt there was more these resources could do to meet community needs. For example, in the park, they envisioned a new playground and basketball court as well as a community garden complete with edible landscaping and a farm stand where residents could purchase fresh produce. For the Jonestown Community Development Corporation (JCDC), acquiring the former Jonestown School is a top priority. JCDC members brainstormed a variety of possibilities for transforming the building into a community center and resilience hub. Their ideas centered around creating safe spaces for youth and adults to gather to build community, connect with their cultural heritage, and enjoy their local environment.
A representation of ideas shared by residents of Jonestown during the community mapping session.
Overall, the LEAD the Shore program underscored Envision’s strength in building relationships, helping to increase conversations and facilitate connections between local communities, practitioners, policymakers, and funders. The partnership still has a lot to learn and think about before running another iteration of the program, but it’s clear that there is interest and energy to continue. Even more encouraging, there’s interest and willingness from current participants to continue their learning experience and help to engage additional communities in the future. Participant and Jonestown resident, Shirley Lake remarked that she “didn't want the LEAD the Shore program to end! Each session was engaging and thought-provoking. Every aspect of the program was intentionally designed to make participants feel welcome and comfortable. We saw and learned from facilitators and speakers who looked like us, and had an understanding of our community. Such an empowering experience to witness; it was a wonderful experience!”
If you’re interested in learning more about LEAD the Shore or offering your support to the program, please reach out to us at envisionthechoptank@gmail.com.
This program was made possible through funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network, Chesapeake Bay Program, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Maryland Department of the Environment.
This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement 96358101 AND 96358201 to National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the EPA endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned in this document.