Making connections with the Latinx community: full meeting video here
We had a great meeting of partners this week where we heard from organizations that are actively working with and for Latinx communities and connecting them to the outdoors. Meet some of these teams and learn about their programs, activities, events and internships for youth and families. Notes follow the video below.
ViveNW (Jorge Guzman, Executive Director & Eizaak Jordan, Vive NW, Lead Fundraiser and Project Coordinator) - Vive NW https://www.vivenw.org/en/ - is based in Portland, Oregon and serves the Portland-Vancouver region to minimize (and remove) the barriers that inhibit the Latino/a and BIPOC communities a wide range of opportunities, including recreational outings, stewardship events, activities to support health & wellness, and supporting regional economic development. ViveNW works with partners throughout the region in supporting their efforts to promote and facilitate equal access to nature, healthcare, inclusive tourism, and environmental conservation efforts. Programs include:
Adventures & Tourism - have two vans to take folks on adventures; brings hundreds of Latinx and BIPOC community members to various recreation opportunities each month
Interpreting Services - authorized to provide interpreting services as well as a safe place for folks to practice Spanish and English together
Creative Agency - create culturally sensitive, inclusive, and impactful messaging
Conservation and Stewardship - Working with regional partners to plant trees and make a positive change in our regional environment; with education building the essential knowledge needed to understand the importance of ecosystems and caring for the land.
Vive Saludable program for Health & Nature - supporting health care systems
BIPOC Business Development - work closely with BIPOC owned outdoor and recreation businesses to support their growth and development, introduce members of our communities to tourism opportunities.
Project ZERO - partnership with PGE for youth education, internships and stewardship https://portlandgeneral.com/about/who-we-are/community/pge-project-zero
ELSO, Inc. (Experience Life Science Outdoors)- (Dr. Kellianne Richardson, Co-Founder & Head of Operations) https://www.elsoincpdx.org/ ELSO seeks to reduce the achievement gap in STEAMED education and professions while creating a sense of belonging for Black and Brown communities in the natural and built environment. To best service the LatinX community and people of color, the ELSO board and members include people from communities that are included. Kids can see themselves in the program leaders. Dr. Kellianne Richardson mentioned how important it is to know the specifics about the community you are working with to understand what barriers to participation they may have. For some community members, high school students and young adults contribute to the family internships so paid internships are very important, as is reliable transportation for work, activities and events.
ELSO has several programs working with regional partners, schools and community partners to serve area BIPOC students:
Wayfinders K-8 camps including Spring break and Summer camps https://www.elsoincpdx.org/programs/#jumpto-WF
A STEAMED based camp for K - 8th graders that focuses on life science, ecology, community, and cultural history. This program also hires teens to serve as Camp Counselors to work with younger students through paid positions.Tappin Roots is an environmental internship program for Black-identified high school students in the Greater Portland area. TR seeks to train and empower the next generation of environmental and community leaders using storytelling, mentorship, career exploration, place-based learning, and healing practice.
Studio Justice is ELSO’s design program made up of paid after school programs and community outreach events for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian youth to learn about design as a tool for racial and social justice. Work includes a Design Cohorts, Girls in Engineering and Youth Design Forum.
Fourth Plain Forward (Ach' Sheila Davis, Community Development Manager & Almendra Velazquez, Social Media Coordinator) https://www.fourthplainforward.org/
Serves as the driving force that brings together established systems, grassroots initiatives, residents, and businesses. Our shared goal is to break down the barriers that have hindered our communities progress. Our commitment extends specifically to uplift Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, alongside those facing resource limitations and exclusion from mainstream services through connecting people, place and policy. Our values include: Racial & Social Equity/Justice, Community First, Collective Impact,
Development Without Displacement, and Climate Adaptation Five program areas include:
01 Community Wealth Building
02 Thriving Neighborhoods
03 Affordable Housing and Neighborhood Development
04 Evaluation and Learning
05 Art History and Culture - For example, "Art in the Park," building community gardens, bringing culture into spaces like the new Mother Camas totem with pollinator plants, etc.
Watershed Alliance of Southwest Washington (Almendra Velazquez-Perez Bilingual Community Outreach Coordinator) https://thewatershedalliance.org/
The Watershed Alliance works to educate and engage community members to be active stewards of SW Washington’s natural legacy. We educate children and adults, by giving hands on opportunities to participate in the restoration and protection of waterways. They have several programs to engage people throughout the community including:
Stewardship activities and events. - Join an existing event or call to coordinate some plantings, beach clean-ups or other stewardship with your group. April 27th is a Spanish speakers event...contact for more information.
Backyard Habitat Certification - Provides support and incentives for residents who seek to restore native habitat to their backyards. We help people create yards that are healthy for people, wildlife, and the planet. The program is offered to private residences (under one acre), as well as to schools, community groups, public institutions, and businesses
Environmental Film series - hosted at the downtown library is free and welcome to everyone, Pizza is provided, registration is required.
Newsletters - in Spanish and English
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Juliette Fernandez, Refuge Complex Manager) https://www.fws.gov/refuge/ridgefield
Two refuges, Ridgefield Complex (Carty Unit, headquarters and Auto-Tour loop) and Steigerwald Lake. Both sites have accessible walking trails, interpretive art & signage. Opportunities include:
Volunteer events - there are a number of volunteer activities including trail ambassador, special planting events, special community events and nature hike leaders.
Junior Duck Stamp program - youth can submit original artwork for the duck stamp program. https://www.fws.gov/refuge/ridgefield/junior-duck-stamp
Juliette also speaks at the Latino Leadership Council for High School students to learn about career paths - https://latinoleadershipnw.org/
Pacific Education Institute (PEI) (Emily Newman, Lower Columbia FieldSTEM Coordinator and Lourdes Flores, Multicultural Engagement Coordinator) https://pacificeducationinstitute.org/
PEI delivers high-quality professional development and consultation services for educators in equitable, locally relevant, career connected, outdoor STEM education. PEI Values: Equity- Equitable FieldSTEM learning that is culturally relevant for each student; Collaboration, Diversity and Inclusion - collaborative education that considers all voices, including historically underrepresented populations, when making decisions and designing solutions to strengthen community; Integrity - A cohesive education system that utilizes reliable and trusted scientific resources to build relationships that inspire trust; Authenticity - Education that engages students in locally relevant, economic, social, and environmental questions, problems, issues, and opportunities. To ensure authenticity, this work is conducted in partnership with agencies, organizations and businesses in the community and brings student voice and civic participation into age-appropriate community decision making; Stewardship - Education that encourages students to actively take responsibility for the vitality and sustainability of the environmental, economic, and social systems of their communities; and, Creativity - Inspiring innovative, socially just, science-based thinking. Programs include:
Professional development teacher trainings with certified STEM Clock hours, through a variety of workshops offered throughout the school year for all grade levels
Teacher resources - A Project Learning Tree affiliate for WA that supports the Journeys program for black and brown youth (small grants will be available along with lots of resources), along with many other resources such as the K-3 Schoolyard learning packet.
YESS program - YESS high school participants earn summer school credit while building their job skills and exploring careers in natural resources. Over their five to six weeks in the program, students’ classroom time is paired with hands-on service activities at community partner sites
Will support getting Spanish speaking families from local schools into hiking on local public lands, including the Latino Conservation Week (Sept. 14-22)
Clark County Public Works - Volunteer program (Cindy Gonzalez, Volunteer Programs Coordinator) https://clark.wa.gov/public-works/volunteer
Join an existing event or contact a group event to support clean up, plantings and special projects throughout the Clark County parks, trails and natural spaces, including:
Adopt-a-road - clean up roadside litter
Adopt-a-park - clean up litter and help with special projects in parks
Park Hosts - several larger parks have spots for park hosts to live on site and care for the park
Special events and activities - like tree plantings in parks
Friends of Trees - Vancouver events (Thomas Meinzen, Regional Neighborhood Tree Specialist) https://friendsoftrees.org/
Join FoT for a variety of planting projects throughout the year, including neighborhood volunteer plantings, crew leaders and special planting events. Most tree planting events provide free training, all of the tools needed, you will be assigned a crew, and the plantings are followed up with fun neighborhood potluck event. Also, reach out to Thomas about internship opportunities for high school students!
