10 Ways To Give Back: Realty Collective Celebrates the Work of RETI Center
Nov 20, 2023 10waystogiveback,brooklyn,giveback,holidays,nonprofit,red hook brooklyn
As part of our celebration of the holidays — and as a thank you to the larger community that supports us all year long — Realty Collective is proud to feature the work of key non-profit organizations making the borough (and beyond) better every day. We’ve selected 10 non-profits to highlight and we encourage everyone to learn a bit about their respective missions and, if possible, to join us in making a small monetary donation to further their work. We thank them for everything they do and thank you for supporting a small, woman-owned Brooklyn business for nearly 20 years.
There’s simply no way to live or do business in Red Hook without being aware of the neighborhood’s relationship to the water. Long a working waterfront — as well as home to thousands of residents — our home was changed forever when Superstorm Sandy hit our shores in 2012. Despite the devastating and life-changing effects of that disaster, Red Hook (and many other vulnerable communities across the region) have rebounded to face the climate challenges ahead of us, rather than putting that worry off for another day. Among the organizations doing substantive work in this area is RETI Center, which we’re honored to tell you a bit more about.
For RETI Center, resilience is about much more than weathering a storm. As its website explains, they are “teaching, training and working side-by-side local youth and low-income populations to transform our city. RETI Center values hands-on education and believes that innovative ideas, ambitious projects, and shared learning will empower all of us to adapt and thrive, together. Our work is to build, train and teach the practices that will help restore our built and natural environment.”
Getting to tell people about RETI Center is a delight, because they do so much behind the scenes that impacts day-to-day life in Brooklyn but they do so without much fanfare. In fact, it would be a struggle to share everything with you here, but here’s a quick snapshot:
They’re educating kids about climate resilience — hands on
They’re building an off-grid green industry learning lab with BlueCity
They’re developing community-based solar innovation
They’re training a renewable energy workforce for the future
And for as many ways they are working to strengthen our communities, there are just as many ways for you to get involved, whether that means learning, supporting, or volunteering. Heck, you can even donate corks to further their work.
Sandy changed Red Hook forever, but it deeply moves us that such a frightening event continues to change people’s hearts and spur them to action, which is why we’re so honored to support the work of RETI Center.