Diversifying the Outdoors through Outdoor Leadership Trainings for Teachers and Youth Workers

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.

With this project, the Authority will help fund standards-based outdoor education programs to students from deep-engagement communities (DEC), Title I schools, and special needs groups for three years. Funding underwrites costs for 120 Title I field trips and 75 transportation stipends, and 24 special needs field trips and transportation stipends. Authority funds will also support training staff on distance-learning/in-person instructional strategies, best practices for working with students with special needs, & cultural relevancy and racial justice.

The Authority contributed funds towards the City of Santa Clara's installation of a decomposed granite trail and restoration of upland habitat near Saratoga Creek. This project will give people of all ages and abilities access to nature in their neighborhood and to the new all-inclusive playground in Bowers Park. In addition, the trail will create a walking loop by connecting to existing park trails. The trail will enhance and integrate play spaces with nature, while supporting sustainability and age-friendly outdoor activities.