High Falls Gorge will soon be turning into High Falls State Park with Governor Hochul’s announcement of the creation of a new urban state park in Rochester New York. We are so excited to see work begin with the Pont de Rennes bridge remodel and RG&E’s remediation efforts! This new park will be 40 acres in the heart of the city of Rochester. Planning has begun to make this park the best it can be for Rochester and its citizens. Check out this mockup that show what this new state park could be!
Greentopia has been advocating to create green space for all of Rochester’s citizens since its beginning. Our organization along with other non-profits, such as the Genesee Land Trust, have been fighting for this and are working to make sure this new park reflects what Rochester citizens want. To provide the planning committee with data Greentopia, Genesee Land Trust and TourBlend have created a High Falls State Park Survey. Please take a few minutes and complete this survey so that your voice can be heard in the creation of this new State Park.
We are so excited to offer Digi Booth at this years Dinner on the River. Digi Booth is a great way to capture your own fun images from Dinner on the River! Enjoy props, and personalized photos with your friends, expressing yourself and enjoying our event.
Be sure to tag us in your photos @greentopia_roc and share them with the hashtag #dinnerontheriver to show us your fun!
Thank you so much to Digi Booth for offering their one of a kind photo booth for our event, for more information on Digi Booth click the button below to check out their website!
Greentopia has been working in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension to run our Introduction to Landscape Technicians Certification program. This certification program has been so important to helping our participants gain a better understanding of horticulture, environmental issues, and landscaping basics. This gives our participants skills, knowledge and a certification to help them find empowerment in the workplace and to gain meaningful employment in green industries. We are so thankful to Cornell Cooperative Extension for their continued work with our program.
Cornell Cooperative Extension also has other amazing educational programs that you can partner with. To learn more about Cornell Cooperative Extension and their work click the button below!
Flower City Habitat for Humanity is partnering with Green Visions to create our new workforce development center at our 188 Whitney Street Campus. This new project is a part of Flower City Habitat for Humanity’s ongoing work in the JOSANA community. We have partnered with them previously to build our outdoor classroom, which made it possible for us to continue to run our program and serve JOSANA during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are so excited to see the new possibilities with the creation of our training center, and thankful to Flower City Habitat for Humanity for their work with us and with the JOSANA community as a whole.
Flower City Habitat for humanity is now running its Critical Home Repair Program, dedicated to helping members of downtown Rochester have their home needs met and restored. They are also accepting applications for new houses for 2023. If you are interested click here for more information.
Our partners at the Rochester Female Charitable society have just celebrated their 200 year anniversary of serving the Rochester community.
On February 26th 1822, 60 women came together to create the Rochester Female Charitable society. This society helped to found the first schools, public projects and social services in the community. This was the beginning of women’s civic activism in Rochester, at a time when the city was only a settlement of around 2,700 people.
We are proud to be one of the many organizations that the Rochester Female Charitable society supports in the Rochester Community. This organization has been dedicated to supporting women and the Rochester community as a whole, helping to further futures. Thank you so much for your continued support as we try to build a better Rochester together.
Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI) has named the Green Visions program as one of its Level Up Champions. This award is in recognition of our fair compensation of $15 per hour for program participants.
Green Visions is dedicated to providing our participants the tools and skills needed for them to gain financial independence. Our stipends alleviates some financial burden for program participants allowing them to fully benefit from everything Green Visions has to offer.
We are so honored to receive this distinction from RMAPI. Thank you so much to all of our supporters, for helping us continue to grow healthy futures in the heart of Rochester.
For more information on RMAPI’s Level Up Champions and how your organization can become one click here!
Greentopia was honored at the 12th annual Community Design Center Redesigning Rochester Awards. Our organization received the Director’s Award for our dedicated work in High Falls and the State Park project.
We are honored to be recognized among our fellow award recipients, who are just as dedicated to making Rochester a better city for all, and excited to see such unique projects.
We are so excited to see High Falls become a green space for the Rochester community to enjoy. Greentopia remains dedicated to creating these spaces for our community. Check out the video to learn more about Greentopia’s hopes for High Falls.
The Green Visions program has just wrapped up its 10th year of programming. This year our program was as successful as ever. Here are some quick statistics about this year…
80% of participants graduated from our program
100% of participants received OSHA 10 certification and Beginner Landscape Technician training through Cornell Cooperative Extension
As of October 7th, the completion of the program…
33% are employed full time
58% are pursuing further education
50% are still actively applying for jobs with the help and support of our program.
We are so proud of this year’s program graduates. Green Visions hopes our continued support will help our participants find empowerment in the workforce. Thank you again to everyone who supports this program, without you, we would not be able to achieve our goals.
This past month we hosted our first Yoga on the Bridge. In partnership with Breathe Yoga, Green Visions hosted a silent disco power vinyasa yoga class on the Pont De Rennes Bridge. Thankfully this year, we were lucky enough to get a beautiful sunny day for the event.
A huge thank you to Breathe Yoga Studios for leading such a beautiful class, we are so appreciative of your partnership, support, and your continued work with us.
Also, thank you to WildByrd Productions for the use of silent disco headphones for the event.
Greentopia strives to make High Falls a center for recreation for all Rochester citizens. Events like Yoga on the Bridge allow us to showcase the natural wonder that can be found in the heart of Rochester. We are so grateful to everyone who came out to support the event, thank you so much for coming out and joining us in High Falls. We hope to see you visiting again soon.
Yoga on the Bridge will be returning next year!
If you are interested in how you can get involved in events like these, sign up for our volunteer list to stay informed on the latest happenings in High Falls.
On October 17th Green Visions celebrated the completion of our 10th year! We were joined by neighbors, former participants, funders, friends, and even Mayor Malik Evans.
The occasion also marked the groundbreaking of the remodel of 188 Whitney to create the Green Visions Training and Education Center. This remodel will allow Green Visions to expand in many ways. First, we will have a home base in the heart of JOSANA, dedicated to workforce development training and assistance to the community, along with environmental education.
Second, this new space will allow Green Visions to expand its programming into the winter months. This new program will allow us to double the youths we serve each year.
Our final cause to celebrate was the installation of a new sculpture on the 188 Green Visions Campus. The “Symbol”, created from metal by Gareth Fitzgerald Barry, is intended to be an onsite representation of the Green Visions Workforce Development Program. The sculpture is an iconic manifestation composed of 22 parts, unified as a single, undulating but unbroken line flowing through space, finally forming the Green Visions logo. The 22 sections of the sculpture represent each week of the program for every participant, while the unification of these sections to form ‘The Symbol’ represents the successful completion of the program and the many stops along every person’s individual journey with Green Visions.
Being an outdoor sculpture, ‘The Symbol’ stands 10 feet tall and will be subject to the elements. It will patina and age with distinction. Its shadow will further serve to showcase the Green Visions logo on the very land on which program participants work and grow, providing an interactive sundial.
‘The Symbol’ will stand out among the surrounding foliage without overshadowing adjacent program amenities, such as the Green Visions House and Outdoor Classroom. Positioned towards the corner of the lot, ‘The Symbol’ will become incorporated into the landscape and skyline of the program site.
More of Gareth Fitzgerald Barry’s work can be found on his Instagram @garethfitzgeraldbarry.
We’re excited to host our dinner in person this year with guidelines in place for a safe, comfortable evening for all. Dinner on the Bridge is the summer’s most elegant event, complete with a three-course farm-to-table dinner prepared by The Cub Room, cocktails, music, silent auction, a fashion show featuring local shops carrying sustainable fashions — plus fireworks, and dessert to end the evening.
Dinner on the Bridge supports Greentopia’s Green Visions — our workforce development program for youth located in the City of Rochester’s JOSANA and Joseph Ave neighborhoods. By joining us for dinner, you’re helping to build a greener Rochester and combat urban blight, crime, youth unemployment, and poverty. Your support enables local youth the opportunity to create green spaces throughout our community with training and knowledge on how to run a small business. Green Visions has been strengthening Rochester neighborhoods for close to a decade.
What do I wear? Guests are encouraged to wear summer cocktail attire, or the best green/environmental fashion attire to align with the theme.
Where do I park? Please map your vehicle to Platt Street. You will pull up the valet service (Lakeview Valet) and they will be parking your vehicle on your behalf in a secured nearby parking garage. Please follow the signage to the registration table.
When will I know if the event is rained out? We will make an announcement 24 hours ahead on August 18th. We will notify all registered attendees via email if the event is postponed due to incremental weather. The rain date will be on Tuesday, August 24th.
Must I be vaccinated? Yes! we will be taking temperatures upon guest check-in. All guests must be vaccinated with proof of vaccination with an excelsior pass or vaccination card, with no exceptions.
For more information on this event, please contact Lisa@greentopia.org
Green Visions Social Distance Graduation at our Smith Street Gardens
Green Visions successfully completed its 8th year of delivering quality job training and hand-on, work experience to at risk-youth in our city. A late start, drought-like conditions, and a health crisis working against us, couldn’t stop us from pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps and getting to work. We navigated the complicated year that was 2020, once again transforming over two acres of once vacant, city land into bountiful, flourishing gardens in the JOSANA and Joseph Avenue neighborhoods.
We also were able to add Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Introduction to Landscape Technicians training to this year’s roster of classes and Bank of America Financial Literacy class.
Cornell Cooperative Collective working with program participants.
Of our 7 graduates, two have been re-enrolled, full time, back into RCSD high schools; one has enrolled in and currently attends SUNY Brockport, full-time as a journalism major; and 4 have secured full-time or part-time employment. Additionally, we were able to hire back 3 Green Visions graduates as site managers to help mentor, teach, and lead our team. Congratulations to our 2020 cohort! And thank you to all of the partners who helped make our program happen this year!
Lastly, with this year’s team successfully completing our program, Green Visions crossed the landmark threshold of having graduated over 100 City of Rochester youth from our transformative program. We could not be prouder of each and every single member of our Green Visions family as we continue to support them and bear witness to their inspiring growth.
