9/29/2026 | Phyllis Joris, Executive Director

On Friday September 18th, NeighborSpace kicked off its new Giving Circle program with an evening of Piano in the Park. Board member Carlton Sexton hosted donors, fellow board members and staff at Adelaide Bentley Park in Towson for this inaugural event. Carlton spoke about NeighborSpace’s recent work and especially its initiatives at this park. Nancy Goldring, NeighborSpace board member, president of the Northeast Towson Improvement Association and granddaughter of the late Adelaide Bentley, shared stories of her childhood and snippets of East Towson’s long history. It was a lovely evening for jazz music, good food and drink, and excellent company.

NeighborSpace is launching three Giving Circles, for friends who wish to support the organization’s work at a higher level.

• Friends of Open Space support NeighborSpace with an annual gift of $365 or more.
• Land Stewards support NeighborSpace with an annual gift of $1,000 or more.
• Conservation Champions pledge to donate $5,000 or more per year for 5 years.
  

By becoming a Friend, Land Steward or Champion, you not only join a community of like-minded people - you help NeighborSpace consistently deliver high-quality programs. Reliable contributions from individuals allow staff and volunteers to nurture park plantings, deepen community relationships, and stay abreast of best practices.

Adelaide Bentley Park is an excellent example of what can be accomplished with charitable contributions. Just four years ago, the park was overgrown and uninviting, becoming an impassable tangle of invasive vines by mid-summer. In 2022, NeighborSpace decided to commit to returning this park to an ecosystem healthy enough to support local wildlife, visits from neighbors and community gatherings.

Staff began by visiting the park regularly to gain an understanding of the challenges and opportunities and to inventory plant species. NeighborSpace hosted a number of volunteer events and slowly began to clear the trail from the main entrance to the gathering area in the center of the park. We leveraged a small grant to draw up a simple forest management plan and hired a green workforce development nonprofit to remove invasive species from targeted areas. This was followed by countless hours of invasive removal by volunteers, championed by the Wiltondale Garden Club and supported by NeighborSpace staff and Stewardship Committee members. Corporate groups from GWWO Architects, Whiting-Turner and Stanley Black and Decker pitched in to build benches, install raised beds and mulch trails. A second small grant funded edible forest plantings, installed and diligently watered by staff and volunteers.

Wiltondale Garden Club members prepare the raised beds for planting.

The vast majority of this work is fueled by donations from individuals like you: planning, maintenance, training and overseeing volunteers, relationship-building…what we call stewardship. Here at NeighborSpace, we aim to be good stewards of the spaces we conserve and the communities we serve, and that requires an ongoing investment from a large network of partners: community leaders, neighbors, volunteers, fellow nonprofits, and donors.

At Adelaide Bentley Park, these efforts have paid off. Where four years ago I had to bushwhack my way through overgrown shrubs and invasive vines to follow the trail, I can now easily walk along a mulched path between native goldenrod and Joe Pye weed to sit in the dappled sun on a bench or to pick blueberries in one of the edible forest patches. Depending on the season, migrating birds flit overhead and bees buzz from flower to flower.

A sunny spot to sit, and a bumblebee enjoying Joe Pye weed

There is still a lot of work left, and Adelaide Bentley Park is just one of 20 public sites that NeighborSpace cares for. Join us in the stewardship of these vital green spaces and become a Giving Circle member today. You can donate here or feel free to email or call me to discuss different ways to give. The NeighborSpace Board and I would love to welcome you to our next Giving Circle event!