Our Projects

READY Summer Program 2016

Every year the READY Program hires on the bulk of its workforce and completes the majority of its projects during the summer. This past summer marks the 5th year of the READY Program! Since its inception the READY program has employed over 130 Howard County youth in its efforts to reduce the harmful effects of stormwater runoff in and around the communities in which we work.

The 2016 Summer Program created jobs for 24 local youth from June 20th through August 12th. They worked on a variety of projects at a number of properties around the County including community associations, residential homes,  and churches.

2016 Summer Stats:

  • 20 Crew Members and 4 Crew Leaders hired for the season
  • 125,873 sq ft of drainage area treated
  • 45,642 sq ft of impervious surface treated
  • Construction of 8 rain gardens at 7 different sites


Howard County CleanScapes

In its ongoing effort to expand its scope of work in the watershed, the READY Program was awarded a partial grant to build rain gardens on residential properties as part of a pilot program administered by the Howard County Government. The CleanScapes Communities program is an effort by the County to engage and educate homeowners about stormwater management while improving their properties relationship with their watershed through the construction of a rain garden on their property.

To learn more about the CleanScapes Communities Program and to see if your home is in the pilot area please visit the following link:

Howard County CleanScapes Communities

 

READY Maintenance Program


Since its inception, the READY Program has constructed over 120 rain gardens and conservation landscapes throughout Howard County. After conducting an assessment of all our installations we determined the need to offer a maintenance option to our past and future customers. The READY Program takes pride in the projects it installs and their environmental benefit, therefore we wish the see them continuously performing up to the standard to which they were designed. To address this maintenance need the READY Program has begun offering a maintenance option to new customers going forth. We have also extended this maintenance option to all of our past customers as well. The program has since expanded to incorporate the maintenance of rain gardens and other stormwater Best Management Practices that were not constructed by the READY Program.

If you are interested in maintenance on your rain garden, conservation landscaping, or other stormwater management practice on your property please fill out this form or contact Julie Costantino at jncostantino@howardecoworks.org.

READY Nursery at the Howard County Department of Corrections

In 2015 READY broke ground on construction of a Native Plant Nursery in partnership with the Howard County Department of Corrections. The addition of a nursery has given the READY Program a new capacity to grow, propagate, and store more plants than ever in a much more sustainable manner. In February 2016 a dedication ceremony was held at the nursery to commemorate its establishment and the ongoing support of all the entities involved who support the project, including speeches given by County Executive Allan Kittleman, County Councilman Calvin Ball, and the READY Project Manager Lori Lilly.

County Executive Kittleman READY Nursery Dedication



Recent News

  • Here's a roundup of recent headlines from our organization. 
  • Greenleaf Bioretention Howard EcoWorks constructed our first bioretention facility in the Greenleaf neighborhood in Columbia. The facility was designed by Howard Soil Conservation District in 2015. Funding was obtained from the Chesapeake ...
    Posted Jun 20, 2017, 10:12 AM by Howard Ecoworks
  • First Landscapes For Life Class Graduated at Howard County Dept of Corrections We were really excited to graduate our first Landscape for Life class at the Howard County Department of Corrections.  The group learned sustainable gardening practices over a course of (5 ...
    Posted Apr 14, 2017, 11:50 AM by Howard Ecoworks
  • READY is hiring! Applications for the summer READY program are open!  We're looking for young people 16-26 years old who wish to make a difference in the Howard County community, work ...
    Posted Mar 15, 2017, 1:49 PM by Howard Ecoworks
Showing posts 1 - 3 of 11. View more »