Hackensack, NJ -- The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF) is partnering again with Montclair State University’s PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies (ISS) on a project to enhance the natural environment in the City of Hackensack. The NNJCF is providing five students from a range of colleges and majors, who are participating in the Institute’s transdisciplinary Green Teams program, to develop a green infrastructure plan for Hackensack.

During the summer, the team’s members are working on several tasks, including:
-- preparing educational materials about green infrastructure and environmental justice,
-- designing and organizing a community meeting for the green infrastructure plan, and
-- analyzing how proposed strategies in the plan can help reduce flooding.

These five students participating on the NNJCF’s Green Team are attending colleges on the east coast and pursuing diverse degrees:
-- Breeze Smith. Senior at Claflin University. Major in Studio Art and a minor in Political Science.
-- Andrea Morris. Junior at Howard University. Major in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
-- Sara Salloum. Junior at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Major in Computer Science.
-- Jasmin Marquez. Senior at Montclair State University. Major in Sustainability Science.
-- Olivia Delgado. Senior at Barnard College. Major in Architecture with a concentration in Urban Studies.

Leonardo Vazquez, Executive Director of the NNJCF, led the Green Team on a tour of Hackensack’s neighborhoods, where flooding has occurred, to provide them with a better understanding of the city that will aid them in developing the green infrastructure plan. They also visited the Community Rain Garden installed on June 1 by over 50 volunteers of all ages at Hackensack High School.

The 2024 Green Team’s work builds upon a 2022 Montclair State University’s PSEG ISS Green Team’s investigation that researched and identified strategies to reduce flooding in towns along the Hackensack River corridor. The 2022 Green Team analyzed rain patterns affecting the area, conducted research and created materials on rain barrels and rain gardens, and designed a model rain garden.

Green Infrastructure for Environmental Justice
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This Montclair State University’s PSEG ISS Green Team’s work is part of the NNJCF's Green Infrastructure for Environmental Justice project. This project seeks to reduce flooding and improve environmental conditions for residents in central Hackensack and other parts of the city affected by flooding. More information about this project may be found at http://tinyurl.com/heja24.

The Green Infrastructure for Environmental Justice project is produced by the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation in partnership with Greater Bergen Community Action, the City of Hackensack and Hackensack Public Schools, along with other community-based organizations in Hackensack. The project is supported in part by The Funders Network, AARP, Valley Bank Foundation, M&T Bank Foundation, PSEG Foundation, The Rotary Club of Hackensack, TD Charitable Foundation, and other supporters.

For further information, contact Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP, Executive Director of the NNJCF, at [email protected] or call 201-568-5608 extension 2.

About Northern New Jersey Community Foundation

Founded in 1998, The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups to improve community life. Through collaborative partnerships, regional problems are identified and resolved. Opportunities are discovered and explored by talking and learning from each other and sharing ideas, best practices, services, and resources. The Foundation works to grow more creative and inspiring places, greener and healthier places, and more places of belonging and opportunity. For more information, visit www.nnjcf.org, send an email to [email protected], or call 201-568-5608.