La Mesa Verde Garden Education

Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT) creates opportunities for underserved Bay Area youth to experience wilderness firsthand and have powerful environmental education experiences. The Authority contributed funds to help BAWT continue to expand services in Santa Clara County by conducting more outdoor leadership training courses, including full scholarships for South Bay focused leaders. Through this grant, BAWT will continue expansion of outdoor equipment lending and trip support services. This project is increasing the number of Santa Clara County outdoor trips for diverse youth and will help launch a legacy that will provide youth of color and low-income youth in the South Bay with outdoor experiences for many years to come.

RIDESV is a three year monthly bike ride series working with partner organizations to enhance access to open space. The partner organizations include those focused on environmental issues as well as those working directly with low income populations. The program aims to increase bicycling as a sustainable form of transportation, connect people to open space, and share knowledge among partner organizations to educate participants.

The Authority contributed funds towards the Santa Clara County Public Health Department's Park and Play Initiative, which aims to address health equity related to park utilization by underserved communities. The goal of this Initiative is for families to visit Santa Clara County Parks, participate in park programming, and become comfortable utilizing parks on an ongoing basis to increase their physical activity and overall understanding of environmental stewardship. Park utilization has many known benefits including diabetes management and prevention, depression and anxiety reduction, and increasing community cohesion. Many of the families in the geographic focus area for this initiative (Milpitas and East San Jose) have had limited opportunities to visit parks and limited exposure to environmental education.