Environmental Partnerships received its first grant when Susan Youmans, Founder and Executive Director, began collaborating with Bishop Nellie C. Yarborough, pastor of Mt. Calvary Holy Church in Roxbury. EP’s first project was to support the upkeep of the garden at Mt. Calvary Church, which had long provided vegetables for the congregation’s food programs, and to facilitate dialogue at the church about environmental health. In 2000 the community service learning program for bilingual Chinese high school students began. That year, EP also launched a pilot program linking suburban churches and urban food pantries as part of an urban/suburban community supported agriculture team providing fresh, organic, and locally-grown vegetables to for urban residents. In 2002, EP began an inventory project of land management of churchyards in two towns within the Mystic River watershed and organized a number of smaller community garden projects. Current projects include: updating the “inventory” in which churches were mapped in relation to land uses in their towns, conducting outreach about pesticides reduction to Episcopal churches in the region, and planning a project to increase participation of Boston faith groups in food security issues.