Jorge Tait has been planting fruits and vegetables in his Flatbush garden for over 40 years. Though his plot of land is small, it’s an essential part of his summer tradition. But after BKLVLUP tested his soil in 2025 and found high levels of lead, Tait has changed the way he gardens.
“Maybe it was a blessing in disguise,” said Tait, who now grows his summer greens in buckets on his property.
Testing soil is one of the many youth-led initiatives BKLVLUP has taken to improve the community. According to CEO Allyson Martinez, East Flatbush tested third highest in the city for lead content. Out of the homes tested by youth interns, 67 percent tested positive for lead content in the soil.
On Sept. 3, 2026, BKLVLUP hosted a community talk-back where the organization shared its ongoing initiatives with elected officials and community members across Flatbush, East Flatbush and the Flatlands (also known as “the Flats”).
“[East Flatbush] is one of the last batches of Black homeownership where people take pride in grown food,” said Martinez. “It was important to find solutions literally from the ground up for our community.”
Since its inception in 2024, more than 250 homes have been tested throughout the Flats. BKLVLUP has also facilitated soil remediation and spread the word about the importance of planting on raised beds.
Another major project out of BKLVLUP is its planned Community Resilience Hub in East Flatbush. In conjunction with the Inter-Borough Express stations, the hub would serve as a space designed and dedicated to the community. BKLVLUP is targeting the intersection of Utica and Farragut as a potential landing space for visitors and community members.
“We know that transit-oriented development can often be disruptive in terms of escalating prices, property taxes and challenges for small businesses,” explained COO Zalyia Grillet. “So what's the trade-off that we can get as a community? We could have affordable space, a community-owned micro-grid or a community-owned data center; all of those things are on the table.”
Sixteen-year-old EcoPower intern Victoria Vasilieva was excited by the possibilities of the Community Resilience Hub. She solicited youth artists from around New York City to be featured in the hub upon completion.
“I’ve never had an opportunity to have my art permanently installed, especially at my age,” said Vasilieva. “But now, I created this resource for other artists.”
Similarly, interns Adiba Islam and Jayson Gittens were both inspired by their summer at EcoPower. Along with working on soil testing and planning for the Community Resilience Hub, Islam and Gittens worked on their own projects.
Islam developed an online quiz that monitored New Yorkers’ light pollution contributions and offered individualized solutions. Gittens created an infographic on how to dispose of garbage properly.
“I’m constantly being attacked by trash bags,” Gittens explained.
One day, Islam hopes to work for NASA, and Gittens can see himself working in sanitation. Martinez stressed the importance of the high school and college interns who lead the charge on these community missions.
“We know lived experience is an expertise that has to be leveraged,” Martinez told BK Reader. “You have to design and create for the people who live in a space. They can tell you the history, they can tell you what their future hopes are, what they're seeing on the ground every day.”
