A man with a beard and wide-brimmed hat holds a small bird on his hand, surrounded by teenage students who are smiling and looking at the bird

Projects Funded by Our Grant Programs

The Open Space Authority's Grant Programs help connect people to nature in their neighborhoods by funding urban projects and programs throughout our jurisdiction. Learn more information about these projects located throughout Santa Clara Valley below.

Map of Grant Projects

Grant Projects

An architectural rendering of a colorful pink, purple, yellow, and blue building on a street lined with shady trees, where people walk and ride their bikes

La Placita Beautification Project

The Open Space Authority is helping to fund The School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza (SOAC)’s Capital Improvement and Planning for its “La Placita Beautification Project,” which will bring green infrastructure to a newly acquired property in East San José.
Grant Program Type
Urban Grant Program
A group of people working outside in a covered area, around tables full of plastic creates and cardboard produce boxes filled with fruits and vegetables

Field to Farm Stand: Building Community and Climate Resilience

Supported by the Open Space Authority, Veggielution’s “Field to Farm Stand” project builds on the momentum of an 18-month land use planning process for their six-acre community farm. This grant-funded project takes the ideas surfaced in the land use plan to the next stage, in the form of a comprehensive site design.
Grant Program Type
Urban Grant Program
A row of six raised metal garden beds next to four school picnic tables surrounded by green grass, in front of a school blacktop with portable classrooms behind them

Equitable Access Through Implementing Native Gardens (EATING)

Supported by the Open Space Authority, the Equitable Access Through Implementing Native Gardens (EATING) project is aimed at providing socio-economically disadvantaged, English Language Learners and Specialized Education students with outdoor environmental classrooms at Scott Lane and Pomeroy Elementary Schools.
Grant Program Type
Urban Grant Program
The entrance to an outdoor education area, with a bright yellow arch that reads "Xu Family Charitable Foundation Exploration Portal" surrounded by sculptural and cut-out shapes of a yellow flower, a blue and yellow chameleon, a snail, and a butterfly

Exploration Portal at Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose

Funded in part by the Open Space Authority, the Children’s Discovery Museum’s “Exploration Portal” is a 4,000 square foot nature-themed educational space at the southwestern corner of the Museum’s site designed to engage children and the adults who accompany them in hands-on environmental education.
Grant Program Type
Urban Grant Program
tbd

Growing the Urban Forestry Education Center

Our City Forest’s Urban Forestry Education Center is an educational and outreach site at Martial Cottle County Park that hosts workshops, community events and volunteer workdays. With funding from the Open Space Authority, Our City Forest is installing an environmentally friendly, ADA-compliant hardscape to replace the site’s gravel paths.
Grant Program Type
Urban Grant Program
Two people walk along a paved trail winds around the edge of a small lake with rippling water, next to a green field with a line of dark trees on the horizon

Lake Cunningham: Wetland & Restoration Shoreline Prototype Project

Supported by the Open Space Authority, the City of San Jose is conducting the “Design and Environmental Review for an Emergent Wetland” to improve water quality and reduce overland fertilizer and waste inflows into Lake Cunningham.
Grant Program Type
Urban Grant Program
An individual holds up onions and beets while boxing up produce

Urban Grower Network

Supported by the Open Space Authority, the Urban Grower Network is Veggielution’s response to the need for community-based food and environmental organizations to better coordinate themselves around specific work and projects, to grow their collective impact.
Grant Program Type
Urban Grant Program
Four people standing around and leaning towards a garden bed filled with plant seedlings in black plastic containers

San Jose Food Sovereignty

Supported by the Open Space Authority, Valley Verde’s San Jose Food Sovereignty Project supports urban agriculture and environmental education in underserved neighborhoods by providing families with intensive support to learn to grow fresh, healthy, culturally-relevant produce.
Grant Program Type
Urban Grant Program