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4worldlovers: We aim to improve the overall well-being for residents of communities in Connecticut that have been neglected, denied resources, or otherwise ignored over the years, through activities that promote improvement in the environmental, economic, and social conditions of their cities while at the same time providing opportunities for youth to learn and engage with their community.

“No child can escape his community...The life of the community flows about him, foul or pure; he swims in it, goes to sleep in it, and wakes to the new day to find it still about him. He belongs to it; it nourishes him, or starves him, or poisons him; it gives him the substance of his life.” - J.K. Hart

We believe that increasing and providing opportunities for youth civic engagement is key to achieving our mission. We thus engage youth as influencers and changemakers to address the conditions we seek to improve. We offer a range of programs throughout the year for youth to develop leadership skills, build social capital, and engage in a variety of activities towards place-based community revitalization and achieving our vision.

Our weekday + weekend service-learning program takes place year-round during four (4) different sessions meeting with groups meeting either on Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday with additional Saturday stewardship days. Youth can participate in sessions starting in January (Winter), April (Spring), July (Summer), or October (Fall). The program combines classroom instruction and stewardship projects over the course of eight weeks. The program develops youth skills in leadership, community engagement, and placemaking with a focus on physical and social interventions that can revitalize a community.

Our summer travel experience program takes high-school youth on overnight trips to National Park sites throughout the country where they gain work experience and are given the time to enjoy recreational activities and to get to know each other and form new connections. Whether helping to renovate a building, improve a trail, or set up for a centennial celebration, participants work with National Park staff on a variety of projects where they learn practical skills that they can take back to implement projects in their home communities.

Through the Youth Advisory Council, Groundwork provides experiences and opportunities for former and current program participants to develop social capital by forming new connections with each other, to develop leadership skills that will support them in advocating for issues that matter to them, to prepare them to serve as effective leaders and board members for other organizations, and to help shape and advise on the development of our programs to increase impact.

Our year-round weekend-only stewardship program promotes stewardship of the city’s physical spaces and of social connections through community events. This program is especially suited for those youth would like to be involved with Groundwork’s mission but who are unable to participate in the service-learning program due to space limitations or other time commitments such as work, sports, or other activities that take place during the week. Similar to the service-learning program, youth participate in meaningful community projects that aim to improve the physical landscape and engage residents in activities the build a sense of social connection.

The landscape design and placemaking studio is Groundwork's newest program. The program operates as a social enterprise that provides small-scale landscape and placemaking design services to local residents and businesses with the goal of working beyond interventions in public spaces but also on private spaces that most often dominate a community’s overall landscape.

Our youth at the the core of our work. Learn about some of them here.

Help us help our communities. We have the know-how and the passion to do our work but it is only accomplished through support from those that believe in our mission, our staff, and the impact we have on the youth we serve.

Please consider sponsoring one of our programs, volunteering with us at one of our events, or making an individual donation to support the work we do with youth and for our neighborhoods.

We welcome volunteers regardless of skill level. Financial donations are also vital to our growth - we use them to pay for project materials, classroom supplies, youth stipends, community outreach and more.

Sponsorships provide opportunities for businesses and individuals to give back to the community while supporting the work that Groundwork does to support local youth and the community overall.

Do you want to help Groundwork Bridgeport achieve its mission? We look forward to partnering with you! If you’re not able to match up with our volunteer options, please consider making a donation to support our work.