GreenRoots leads projects and campaigns to combat and prepare for climate change; realizes strategies to reduce the impacts of urban heat islands; implements green infrastructure and nature-based solutions to reduce flooding; engages with stakeholders to tackle climate justice assaults. 

Smiling woman holding up a heart drawing in a hall.

As an elder I am quite deliberate in how I choose to use my energy. It is important that it goes toward the REAL possibility for change in this beautiful and broken world.  GreenRoots is one place in which I have the confidence that any work I do will move justice forward. I am committed to the genuine commitment of GreenRoots.

Stacy Amaral

  • Chelsea residents sitting in the newly created green space at 212 Congress Ave, Chelsea, MA.

    "Cool Block" Project

    The “Cool Block” Initiative implements a block-wide approach to addressing urban heat island impacts through significant street tree planting and maintenance; transformation of, with deep and meaningful community engagement, a vacant parcel of land into a new, green space; implementation of a white roof on the Boys and Girls Club; and other heat reflective strategies. 

  • From left to right: Patricia Fabian, Ed Markey, Judith Garcia and [add name] at [verify name of 212 Congress Ave]

    C-HEAT Initiative

    To better understand the impacts of physical and perceived impacts of increased heat-island effect on residents in Chelsea and East Boston, we are implementing the C-HEAT Initiative with the Boston University School of Public Health and other partners including the Wicked Hot Mystic with the Mystic River Watershed Association.

    Learn More

  • Community leaders, Chelsea Department of Public Works and GreenRoots staff planting a tree and holding a sign that reads "TREE CITY USA Arbor Day Foundation" during Earth Day 2023.

    Tree Planting

    Planting and advocating for the planting of over 2,000 trees in Chelsea, and helping the City to receive formal status as a Tree City USA.

  • Facilitating gathering feedback from residents on new city projects and open spaces

    Climate Resiliency

    GreenRoots works to plan, design and implement major climate resilience measures to address serious flooding throughout our neighborhoods and along our waterfront.

  • A person in a black dress poses with outstretched arms in front of a colorful geometric mural on the side of a brick building.

    Community Art and Climate Change

    In partnership with Artist-in-Residence Erin Genia, GreenRoots is creating a community mural to engage residents with climate change. Funded by the Island End River (IER) Flood Resilience project, this initiative is a collaboration between Everett and Chelsea. 

    Learn more

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    Accountability

    GreenRoots holds businesses accountable for climate, environmental, health and quality of life infractions in our neighborhoods.

Contact Us

  • A young hispanic woman smiling with her arms crossed. She has curly hair and is wearing a black top and a cream jacket.

    Jazmin Castellón

    Climate Justice Organizer

    she, her, hers

    JazminC@greenrootsej.org

    Read Bio

    Jazmin Castellón (she, her, hers)

    Jazmin is full of Chelsea Pride and a passion for all things that are alive. She is excited to be a part of the fight to foster community and access to nature in the very same community that offered her family a home in the United States.

    Jazmin graduated from Boston University with a Bachelors in Biology and Marine Science in 2020. Since then she has worked as a teacher in Chelsea, both at the ILP and various local youth groups. During the pandemic, she researched longitudinal immunity in COVID patients. Later, she worked with NOAA collecting data on commercial fishing vessels to inform their policy and marine conservation efforts. Each of these experiences taught her different skills and shaped the lens through which she sees the world. She is excited to continue sharpening her professional toolkit and shaping her perspective on the world through her work at Greenroots.

    In her free time, she loves to further explore the world through hiking and food. She loves to identify different plant and animal species on her hikes and learn about their different dynamics. She also loves to try different foods by patronizing restaurants around the world and recreating her favorites. 
     

  • A man with salt and pepper hair with a tan shirt standing in front of the Chelsea Creek.

    John Walkey

    Director of Climate Justice & Waterfront Initiatives

    he, him, his

    JohnW@greenrootsej.org

    Read Bio

    John Walkey (he, him, his)

    John is an East Boston resident who has been a committed advocate for environmental justice and immigrant rights in his neighborhood for the past twenty years. Starting in 2017, John has led GreenRoots’ work in East Boston and along the waterfront of the Chelsea Creek. John worked for a decade in hazard risk assessment and mitigation, and natural resource management in Central America and the Caribbean for NGOs, the US government, and the United Nations. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Archaeological Sciences from Boston University and a Master of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Program Events

  • 19
    Sep

    Community Block Printing Mural

    3:00 - 5:00pm

    GreenRoots Teaching Kitchen (63 Pearl St., Chelsea)

    Join GreenRoots' Artist-in-Residence Erin Genia for a fun and creative community block-printing event!

  • 3
    Oct

    Paint a Mural, Beat the Heat!

    4:00 - 7:00pm

    Bear Park, 212 Congress Ave, Chelsea, MA

    Join us as we transform our famous Cool Block outside Bear Park with a vibrant new mural painted using heat-reflective paint. Be part of creating a cooler, more colorful Chelsea!

News

  • House climate bill is a big step backward

    Abandoning 2030 emissions goal would be defeatist concession to Trump, fossil fuel industry

  • In Chelsea, an air, water, land fight for environmental justice

    • In the News

    Chelsea, Massachusetts—the state's smallest city—faces overwhelming environmental burdens from industrial pollution, traffic exhaust, and lead paint contamination, contributing to asthma rates far above the state average. Now the city's efforts to prepare for catastrophic climate-driven flooding have been derailed after the federal government canceled a $50 million grant for a flood barrier that would protect critical infrastructure and neighborhoods expected to face twice-daily flooding by 2050.

  • How a "cool block" in one Massachusetts city could provide a template for combatting extreme heat

    • In the News

    Chelsea, Massachusetts residents are combating extreme urban heat through a "cool block" experiment by environmental group GreenRoots that includes planting over 100 trees, painting rooftops white, and using lighter street surfaces to reduce temperatures that can be 15-20 degrees hotter than greener areas due to the Urban Heat Island effect.

     

See All News

Your support is crucial in ensuring our work continues.

For 30 years, GreenRoots has restored acres of urban salt marsh, created new parks, increased public access to the waterfront and improved the water quality of Chelsea Creek.

Our organizing model is rooted in base-building and community, and your help makes us a stronger force. A contribution to GreenRoots means an investment in the futures of Chelsea and East Boston!

Donate Now

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