Success Story

$76,703

open space authority funds contributed to project

2016

project awarded

The Authority contributed funds to Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful's Coyote Meadows Park Community Planning and Concept project. In the heart of the City of San Jose, Coyote Meadows (formerly known as a homeless encampment named "The Jungle") is a nearly 50-acre parcel of land designated as open space owned by the City of San Jose along Coyote Creek. This land is a linchpin for connecting the community in an east-west and north-south route as a trail corridor. Together with the City of San Jose, community members seek to activate this area as a natural park adjacent to a neglected waterway. This project will provide community planning and conceptual designs, with the end result of a urban open space park with native plants, passive recreational uses, and a strong stewardship infrastructure.

Award Date:

November 10, 2016

Program:

Urban Grant Program

Location:

Coyote Meadows Park

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Other Success
Stories

Exploration Portal at Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose

Children’s Discovery Museum’s “Exploration Portal” (EP) is a nature-themed educational space designed to engage children ages 2-10 and the adults who accompany them in hands-on environmental education. With the location’s adjacency to the Guadalupe River, EP encompasses three intertwined strategies for maximum environmental and educational impacts: 1) an architectural design that improves the health of the Guadalupe River; 2) 8 interactive exhibits that inspire curiosity and help children make discoveries about the natural world along with interpretive signage in English, Spanish and Vietnamese; and 3) a landscaping plan that role models the use of native and/or drought tolerant plants, cultivates biodiversity in the site's riparian environment, and immerses children and adults into the cognitive and physical benefits of a verdant environment.

Park and Play Initiative

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.

Championing Environmental Literacy in Campbell Elementary Schools

Living Classroom has partnered with the Campbell Union School District to continue an environmental education program focusing on three key areas: environmental literacy, connection to healthy food, and life and earth science lessons. Authority funds will contribute to a Next Generation Science Standard-aligned curriculum program providing lessons each year to thousands of students; lessons that stimulate curiosity and are taught in the beautiful and educational school gardens we create and maintain.