Eneida Builds Bridge To Her Future

With her 2‑year-old daughter looking on, Eneida Martinez built a bridge across a muddy rivulet in the Long Wharf Nature Preserve — and then crossed over to a new life as a high-school graduate.

The footbridge, which Martinez installed Wednesday afternoon with the help of classmates, is the 18-year-old’s senior ​“capstone” project at the Sound School.

Starting last November, Martinez designed and built the bridge. In the process, she learned to rely on herself. She discovered a talent for ​“logistics,” as she gathered materials and enlisted support. And she reaffirmed a commitment to helping her community.

Just after 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Martinez was overseeing the installation of her bridge, which spans a muddy rivulet in the preserve. Classmates dug holes in the squishy ground, then lowered in the bridge’s vertical supports.

Martinez said she had ​“not a clue” about construction when she began the project. But she walks the nature reserve ​“constantly” and was frustrated by the lack of a bridge on the path. ​“I struggle coming over the area,” she said. Only a muddy plank served to keep pedestrians out of the mud.

So when her teacher suggested the project, she jumped on it. ​“Who better than someone who knows the area?” said Martinez, who lives just a few blocks away.

Justin Elicker, the head of the New Haven Land Trust, said a previous, smaller footbridge was destroyed in a recent hurricane. The land trust got a grant from New Haven Green Fund to build a new one.

With money for materials from the New Haven Land Trust, Martinez constructed a bridge, and later added handrails at the land trust’s request. Martinez said she at first thought building a bridge wouldn’t be a big deal, then discovered all the coordinating and planning involved to make it happen.

“I learned I have great logistics,” she said. ​“I learned to depend on myself.”

Environmental Science teacher Peter Solomon (at right in photo) called Martinez’s project is a stand-out ​“capstone.”

“I think Eneida has one of the strongest ones we have this year,” he said. ​“She’s taken a lot of responsibility on a lot of different fronts.”

This summer, Martinez will have a Youth@Work position working for the New Haven Land Trust before starting an Americorps position with Public Allies, where she’ll be assigned to work for a local organization.

After that, Martinez said, she plans to go to a four-year college that ​“has some sort of a program that will help teen moms.” She hopes to find a school that will let her live on campus with a child, or provide daycare for her daughter Zaley.

Martinez said she wants to pursue a career helping others, maybe by becoming a therapist or teacher.