Ruth Whitney is a ballerina turned environmental activist who lives in Dorchester Center with her husband and two children. When she started thinking about retiring from the stage, Ruth began to focus more on another passion of hers: climate justice. She was alarmed by the real estate developments going up all around her without any attention to the environmental impact.
“When you put impermeable surfaces on top of other impermeable surfaces, we create an environment that will not sustain life,” she says.
So, Ruth became determined to do something about it. She started attending community gatherings, including meetings of CSNDC’s Climate Justice Alliance.
“It felt great because here is a diverse group of people who are just as upset about this issue as I am, and I was grateful to connect with people who are involved in hands on solutions,” she says.
When she learned about the mini-grants to support community-based projects that CSNDC is offering in partnership with the Fairmont Indigo CDC Collaborative, Ruth jumped at the chance. Her idea: potted community gardening – plants in pots distributed throughout the neighborhood instead of on a physical plot of land. Although Ruth’s vision is still a long way from being realized, she is hopeful about making a difference.
“I feel like here’s a DIY way to change this environment that will not support life into one that has life. I really believe in the power of green and growing things,” she says.
