by Ariana Perez, Columnist at The Capital Gazette, and DCTRENDING Contributing Writer

[Originally published in The Capital Gazette, November 10, 2019. Reprinted with permission.]

Over the summer of 2019, a 10-year-old painting on Chinquapin Round Road got a new life after local artist Cindy Fletcher-Holden worked together with the building’s owner and other community partners to renovate the mural. Fast forward to Saturday morning and a group of teenagers had absolute freedom to paint a wall right next to this mural to express diversity and inclusion with the help Australian artist Houl. Depicted is native Maryland plant life.

The teens are part of the Center of Help’s María de la Paz Youth Outreach Center, a program that offers activities that help youth between the ages of 12-17 to feel safe, emotionally stable and engaged, and addresses migration stressors (such as discrimination and violence) among other behavioral concerns.

“In a time of high tension, I think it’s really important for people to see that children whose families come from another country are able to connect with our community and our environment,” said Bree Allen, art director of the program. “Just because you have heritage that stems from another part of the world, that doesn't mean that you're any less a part of this country or this beautiful state. You're a Marylander like anyone else.”

This is not the first time Center of Help gets children involved in community projects with the goal to help them integrate into a new community and life. In June, children from two of The Center of Help’s programs - Leadership and Learning program and Maria de La Paz Youth Outreach Center program - weeded invasive species and planted native species as a community service for two Saturdays at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary with the help of the Broadneck Scout troop. Last year, the Center of Help organized a similar project in Quiet Waters.

After a conversation with Urban Walls Brazil, Allen and Tatiana Klein, board president of the Center of Help, saw this collaboration as a way to connect children with the community and foster a sense of inclusion.

“When you come to a party where you don’t know anyone, you don't know what to do,” Klein explained. “But when someone grabs your hand and introduces you to others, you feel more welcomed. That’s what we are trying to do to have more reach in the community. We want to make sure people feel they can contribute.”

Klein added the Center of Help has adopted environmental literacy as a way to help children become watershed stewarts and take care of the Chesapeake Bay. As part of the program, the teens have been taught about local flowers and vegetation pertinent to Maryland. “We want everyone to feel like they’re welcomed, but being a part of this community means you should also take care of what you have here.”

After the teenagers painted the background, Australian artist Houl added on native Maryland flowers to create a ‘Garden of Inclusion’. This reflects the need for diversity in a garden, or our community, said Roberta Pardo, owner of Urban Walls Brazil.

“Inclusion is the main message,” Pardo said. “To create a beautiful garden you need diversity. For the garden to grow and develop it needs inclusion. With everything that is happening now a days, and all the misinformation about immigrants, I feel like it is my duty, as an immigrant myself, to give them a voice and promote the need for diversity in any society.”

Later this month, the group of teens will be working on another project, among others, in collaboration with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to further their education and understanding of the local waterways and the importance of taking care of our environment.