Project Petals

10/01/2026

Meet the incredible community leaders spearheading the conversation on Saturday, October 3 for Environmental Justice, Heat, Work, and Us in Queens:

- Candace Prince-Modeste, the youngest person ever elected to lead the NAACP Jamaica Branch.
- Clarisa James, co-founder of DIVAS for Social Justice, growing young leaders across Southeast Queens.
- Malikka D. Karteron, President and CEO of Global25, carrying community solutions from Queens to the United Nations.
- Sonia Ferraro, the Queens nurse who turned an overlooked lot into Paradise Community Garden.

Four outstanding leaders, rooted in this borough, doing the work every single day. Come hear them talk honestly about how extreme heat, flooding, and climate change are reshaping daily life in our neighborhoods, and what we do about it together.

🗓️Saturday, October 3 · 3:30 to 4:30 PM
📍Black Box Theatre, Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning
161-04 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY

Free and open to all.

# ProjectPetals

09/28/2026

After a summer of stories, campaigns, and conversations, we’re bringing Environmental Justice, Heat, Work, and Us home to Queens for a community panel discussion and public showcase. Join us on Saturday, October 3.

All season, we’ve been listening to the people who feel climate change first. Now we’re sitting down together: community leaders, advocates, and residents to talk honestly about how extreme heat, flooding, and a changing climate are reshaping daily life in New York City’s most underserved neighborhoods. And to talk about what we do next.

We’re honored to be joined by our panel:

- Candace Prince-Modeste, President, NAACP Jamaica Branch
- Clarisa James, Co-Founder, Divas for Social Justice
- Malikka D. Karteron, President, Global25
-Sonia Ferraro, Founder, Paradise Community Garden

The details:
Saturday, October 3, 2026
3:30 to 4:30 PM
Black Box Theatre, Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning
161-04 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY

Refreshments will be served, free and open to all. This is our Pulitzer Center–funded work, and it belongs to the community. Come be part of the conversation.

RSVP at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2002155607318?aff=oddtdtcreator

Questions? Email [email protected].

09/24/2026

As part of our initiative: “Environmental Justice, Heat, Work, and Us”, the real stories of New Yorkers who lived through this summer’s extreme heat are now showing on LinkNYC screens across the city, right in the middle of Climate Week.

And this week, Times Square Chronicles featured the campaign, capturing exactly what we set out to do. As they put it, “instead of speaking about communities, we hand them the microphone, and then we put that microphone on a New York City sidewalk.”

These are some of the voices of our community: Harini, Sonia, Makeda, Tiffany, and Cesar. A Queens resident who got so sick from the heat she couldn’t walk, a nurse watching her bills climb just to stay cool, a worker whose commute through the subway became unbearable, and someone with no air conditioning, losing sleep and fighting headaches through the worst of it.

For years, the people carrying the heaviest weight of extreme heat have been left out of the conversations that decide what gets done about it. This week, in one of the most visible places in the world, they are impossible to ignore.

You can find the screens here through September 27:
383 7th Ave, Manhattan
56 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn
160-12 Jamaica Ave, Queens

Read the full feature in Times Square Chronicles at the link in our bio. And if you spot a screen, stop, read a story, and tag us. Let’s make sure these voices carry far beyond one week.

08/14/2026

We are proud to announce that Project Petals is a Pulitzer Center 2026 U.S. Civil Society Grant awardee for a community storytelling and journalism initiative we’re calling Environmental Justice, Heat, Work, and Us.
The initiative will focus on Queens and NYC communities where residents, communities and outdoor workers often face disproportionate exposure to extreme heat and other climate-related risks. Environmental Justice, Heat, Work, and Us, paired with Pulitzer Center-supported journalism, is designed to use journalism and storytelling to spread awareness and promote environmental advocacy by creating a platform for sharing lived experiences.
Did you know there is still no federal protection for workers from dangerous heat?  This summer and fall, we’re bringing residents, communities, workers, journalists, and local leaders together for community forums and storytelling workshops that connect trusted journalistic reporting to real, lived experience and turn those stories into action.
Here’s exactly how you can be part of it: We’re collecting stories about living and working through extreme heat. If that’s your experience, or your family’s, we want to hear it. Reach out to us via DM or email us at [email protected] to get involved. Thank you to the Pulitzer Center for helping us drive our mission forward, supporting our work and believing in our community, and thank you to QNS for covering our story
Thank you to the Pulitzer Center Pulitzer Center for helping us drive our mission forward. Read the full story here:  https://qns.com/2026/08/project-petals-pulitzer-center-grant-environmental-justice/
pulitzercenter

04/20/2026

Earth Day with Project Petals at Paradise Community Garden

Join us for Earth Day with Project Petals at Paradise Community Garden as we come together to care for and prepare our garden for the spring and summer growing season. Volunteers will help with a variety of hands-on projects, including planting fruit trees such as plum, Asian pear, and pomegranate trees, digging up and relocating grape vines, turning soil, and planting seeds. Activities will include general garden clean-up and weeding.
We’ll also be working on several garden improvement projects, such as painting and repairing the pergola, reinforcing and repairing trellises, organizing the shed, painting shade structures, and painting tables and benches that are still in good condition.
This is a great opportunity to give back, support community green space, and help us prepare for the upcoming growing season. Volunteers of all skill levels are welcome. There’s something for everyone of all ages to do, and no experience is necessary.
Come spend the day outdoors, meet volunteers, and make a positive impact in the community while celebrating Earth Day with Project Petals at Paradise Community Garden.

08/22/2025

Big news! Our founder, Alicia White, is featured in AP News! 📣

Alicia spoke with journalist, Fernanda Figueroa at the Associated Press about extreme heat, redlining, and how environmental injustice affects us all. For the article, Alicia was photographed by acclaimed photojournalist Yuki Iwamura.

From a single seed 10 years ago, Project Petals has grown into a movement:
🌱 $4.2B driven toward environmental change
🌎 Hundreds of international leaders trained
📢 Millions reached with environmental justice messaging
🌿 Thousands gaining access to green spaces & fresh produce

Our green spaces are making an impact. Starring with extreme heat. We are so proud of how far we’ve come, and we’re just getting started.

✨ Read the full story: https://apnews.com/article/extreme-heat-climate-disparities-race-ethnicity-6507e130a92016c943a3b411e8731b38

Millions of Americans are facing record heat with temperatures frequently over 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

04/21/2025

🌍🌱 Earth Day Volunteer Event with Project Petals 🌱🌍
Join us this Earth Day — Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at Paradise Community Garden
📍 107-29 Inwood St, Jamaica, NY 11435
🕧 Starting at 12:30 PM EST
We’re calling all Petals to come out and show some love to a vital green space in the heart of Jamaica, Queens 💚 After a recent storm, the garden needs some serious TLC — and we need YOU!
🌿 Help us get ready for the strawberry harvest and pitch in on:
✨ Gardening
✨ Composting
✨ Planting
✨ Painting
✨ Clean-up
✨ Storm damage repairs
🔧 Skilled volunteers: We’ve got special projects for you too — help repair the greenhouse & benches or assist with installing a new irrigation system!
💌 For more info, contact: [email protected]
🙏 Can’t make it? Please consider donating to keep our work growing!

07/17/2024

Check out our story on Medium- “Extreme Heat and At-Risk Populations: How Can We Protect the Most Vulnerable?” and learn more how we can protect ourselves, and others.

https://medium.com/p/c16e951287d2

“A heatwave is defined as a period where local excess heat accumulates over a sequence of unusually hot days and nights.”

As we are undergoing a heatwave, it is important to remember how to protect ourselves from extreme heat, while also keeping in mind the safety of the most vulnerable groups.

07/02/2024

Last month, we had the privilege of hosting a thought-provoking dialogue on mental health, the environment, and climate change. Our panelists, who are esteemed experts in these fields, shared their invaluable insights.

Our panel, in partnership with The Mental Health Action Network by Entertainment Studios and TaskForce, is available for you all to tune into. We are happy for you all to take a look and actively participate in the conversation about mental health, climate action, and our environment.

Elizabeth Bechard - Senior Policy Analyst for Moms Clean Airforce
Katherine Catalano - Deputy Director of the Center for Climate, Health and Equity at the American Public Health Association
Makeda Johannes - LMSW, Founder of The Hope Dose and Senior Project Petals Community Advisor
Dr. Quinn Tyminski - Assistant Professor in the Program of Occupational Therapy and Washington University School of Medicine
Alicia White- Founder and Executive Director Project Petals



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H8231PH3i0

04/25/2024

Earth Day at Mill Brook Gardens was a success! Community members learned about solar technology, composting, water quality, the importance of soil health, and sustainable gardening. The day included a showing of the documentary Kiss The Ground, a groundbreaking film exploring regenerative agriculture and the need to save the planet's topsoil. Another highlight was environmental and climate art made by Mill Brook Houses artists, showing the importance of protecting our planet and environment. How did you spend Earth Day?