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Howard EcoWorks has been restoring natural spaces, creating green career opportunities, and empowering communities across central Maryland. As we look toward the next decade, your support helps us expand conservation efforts, grow Holly Hills, and build a healthier, more sustainable future.
Join the Keystone Circle
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Help Grow the Next Ten Years of Howard EcoWorks
For ten years, Howard EcoWorks has been bringing people and nature together through environmental restoration, workforce development, and community conservation across central Maryland.
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What started as a summer youth crew and a small native plant nursery has grown into an organization creating green career opportunities, growing native plants, and restoring natural spaces throughout our communities.
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Now, we're looking ahead to the next ten years, and we'd love for you to be part of what comes next.
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Introducing the Keystone Circle, a community of supporters who make a lasting impact through monthly, quarterly, or yearly contributions. Gifts of any size provide steady, flexible support that helps EcoWorks plan ahead, respond to emerging needs, and continue growing our programs.
TEN YEARS OF GROWING TOGETHER
384 employment opportunities with staff Positions, seasonal positions, and internships
5,967 native trees and shrubs planted
189 green industry certificates earned
97,990 square feet of new native garden space established
1,156 volunteers engaged
Established Seeds of Change, Native Plant Nursery. Purchased & improved Holly Hills as our home base
713 project sites served
Engaged with thousands of community members through outreach, workshops, and educational content
42,942 native perennials planted
These numbers represent more than projects completed. They represent people gaining valuable skills, communities becoming greener, and natural spaces being restored for future generations.
Why the Keystone Circle?
In a healthy landscape, keystone plants are essential because they support the life and biodiversity around them. The Keystone Circle is built on that same idea.
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Our recurring supporters provide the dependable foundation that allows our work to thrive.
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Much of our funding is tied to specific grants or individual projects. While these resources are essential, unrestricted contributions give us the flexibility to address organizational needs, invest in our people and infrastructure, and pursue opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach.
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Your recurring gift helps make that possible.
Looking Ahead: the Next 10 Years
Our next chapter is taking root at Holly Hills, our growing home for environmental education, workforce development, native plant production, and community connection.
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In the years ahead, we envision:
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Growing more native plants through our Seeds of Change nursery.
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Training more people for meaningful careers in the green industry.
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Restoring more land and strengthening local ecosystems.
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Expanding opportunities for community education, hands-on learning, and environmental stewardship.
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With a dependable community of supporters behind us, we can continue building toward that vision.
Become a Founding Member
We're launching the Keystone Circle with a goal of welcoming 50 Founding Members by December 31, 2026.
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Everyone who joins during this inaugural campaign becomes a Founding Member, helping establish the foundation for EcoWorks' next decade.
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There are no membership levels or minimum contribution requirements. Whether you give $10 a month, $50 each quarter, or make a yearly contribution, your support matters.
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Every contribution helps us grow, plan, and make a lasting difference.
Keystone Circle Member Benefits
As a member, you'll receive:
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Founding Member Recognition: Your name featured on our Keystone Circle members wall on the EcoWorks website, with the option to remain anonymous.
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Early Access to Native Plants: Receive Seeds of Change nursery availability lists and seasonal sale announcements 48 hours before the public.
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Quarterly Updates: Hear directly from Executive Director Alec Lynde about what's happening at Holly Hills and throughout our programs.
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Annual Holly Hills Visit: Join us for an exclusive members-only walk at Holly Hills, led by EcoWorks staff.
Other Ways to Support
Looking for a meaningful gift that makes a difference beyond the holiday season?
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You can give a Keystone Circle membership in honor of someone special. Simply select the "In Honor Of" option when making your contribution and provide the recipient's name.
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Prefer to make a one-time gift? You can still make a difference with a one-time contribution!
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Flexible support helps EcoWorks address important organizational priorities, including improvements to fencing and irrigation infrastructure at Holly Hills. These investments help protect the plants we grow and provide reliable resources for our expanding nursery operations.
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Whether you choose a recurring or one-time contribution, you're helping us build a stronger foundation for the future.
Help us reach 50 Founding Members!
As we celebrate ten years of growing and restoring our communities, we're looking ahead to an exciting new chapter. This Giving Tuesday and year-end giving season, we're inviting our community to help us welcome 50 Founding Members into the Keystone Circle by December 31.
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Whether you're looking to make a meaningful contribution this holiday season or want to invest in the future of environmental conservation, your support helps Howard EcoWorks finish the year strong and start 2027 with a stronger foundation for the work ahead.
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Join the Keystone Circle today and help us grow, restore, and empower our communities for the next ten years.
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50 Founding Members. One shared commitment. A stronger start to 2027.
Thank you for being part of our growing community!
Holly Hills: from Vision to Reality
Throughout 2024, Lori Lilly, Founder and Executive Director of EcoWorks, worked to acquire a new property that would support the organization's growing programs and long-term vision. After months of planning, fundraising, and overcoming challenges, we acquired a 16-acre property in Glenwood, MD, that we proudly call Holly Hills!
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This property has opened the door to new opportunities for EcoWorks, allowing us to centralize operations, expand our conservation efforts, strengthen our green jobs training programs, and grow our native plant nursery.
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Since acquiring Holly Hills, we've made tremendous progress in bringing that vision to life! In 2025, we fundraised for and constructed new hoop houses to expand our nursery production, installed an agricultural water well and cisterns to support growing operations, and developed several conservation gardens featuring native plants. We've also added native trees throughout the property, created mulch pathways to improve accessibility and navigation, and relocated half of our staff to Holly Hills, making it an active home base for our growing team and programs.
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And we're just getting started!
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Looking ahead to 2027, we plan to begin transforming the existing house into a fully functional, environmentally sustainable hub for Howard EcoWorks. Our vision is to create a modern office, green jobs training center, and community gathering space, with the goal of pursuing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. This space will help bring our staff, participants, partners, and community together while demonstrating sustainable building practices in action.
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Holly Hills is more than a property. It's an investment in the future of environmental education, conservation, and green workforce development across our communities.