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Author: Ruby Rodríguez

Latino Outdoors Receives a $25,000 Community Grant from Outdoor Foundation and Kaiser Permanente

Media Contactslatino-outdoors-logo-smaller

José González, Latino Outdoors

(209) 968-6155

jgonzalez@latinooutdoors.org

 

Graciela Cabello, Latino Outdoors

(805) 203-6679

graciela@latinooutdoors.org

 

In celebration of the National Parks Centennial, Outdoor Foundation and Kaiser Permanente support organizations connecting people to parks through outdoor recreation.

(LOS ANGELES), June 20 – Latino Outdoors is pleased to announce it was one of eight recipients of a $25,000 grant from Outdoor Foundation and Kaiser Permanente. The grant program awarded funding to deserving non-profits from Northern California that help connect local youth from underserved or urban areas to close-to-home parks.

The partnership between the Outdoor Foundation and Kaiser Permanente will fund eight projects that will engage more than 1,800 young people in recreation at parks. Part of the Outdoor Foundation’s broader “Parks4Kids” initiative, the program was announced at the Partnership for a Healthier America Summit in Washington, DC.

“Using cultural relevancy as a tool to connect communities to the outdoors, and foster the next generation of stewards is a top priority,” said Raquel Rangel, Latino Outdoors Regional Coordinator for the Central Valley. “The community we work with are underserved, first generation Latino families in Modesto, Stockton, and Turlock in California. The program will connect the participants to different nearby parks – local, state, and national. We believe that creating meaningful and memorable experiences, while experiencing different outdoor activities with their families, will empower them to continue accessing such places.”

“America is facing an inactivity crisis, which is contributing to a range of health issues for young people across the country and in Northern California,” said Chris Fanning, the executive director of the Outdoor Foundation. “Thanks to the support and leadership of Kaiser Permanente, we are working with great local groups to get Americans — especially youth — out of the house and into public parks to create healthy, active communities.”

The grant program was created to help combat the inactivity crisis prevalent among youth and young adults in America. The statistics are staggering. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average young person spends eight hours in front of a screen and only eight minutes outside and active.

 Latino Outdoors involves multiple outings to parks throughout the year, with the purpose of establishing new and healthy lifestyles and a love for America’s natural treasures. All of the eight non-profits were selected to work with the National Park Service to build lasting relationships between communities and local parks while inspiring a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts that will support and champion park issues.

 

The non-profits that received funding include:

  • Latino Outdoors: Central Valley, CA – Supports ongoing efforts to introduce youth and their families to national parks and other public lands.
  • City of Dreams: San Francisco, CA – Exposes youth living in or near public housing projects to new experiences in national, state and municipal parks.  
  • Earth Team: Berkeley, CA – Trains more than 100 students from Title I minority-enrollment schools to address environmental issues in their communities. 
  • Groundwork Richmond: Richmond, CA – Creates a youth Green Team to revitalize the community while providing environmental education for participants. 
  • Nature Bridge: San Francisco, CA – Provides underserved youth with a year of wilderness explorations, service projects, career workshops and more. 
  • Pogo Park: Richmond, CA – Brings inner-city youth to Yosemite National Park and Muir Woods National Monument to deepen their understanding of nature. 
  • San Leandro Boys & Girls Club: San Leandro, CA – Introduces urban youth to the outdoors through educational experiences and campouts. 
  • Waterside Workshops: Berkeley, CA – Provides low-income teens and young adults with daily opportunities for outdoor recreation.

This partnership initiative is a matching fund program where an equal matching share is required from the non-profit and other project partners. The projects will begin this spring and wrap up in December.

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About the Outdoor Foundation

Charitable arm of Outdoor Industry Association, the Outdoor Foundation is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and growing future generations of outdoor leaders and enthusiasts. Through youth engagement, community grant-making, and groundbreaking research, the Foundation works with young leaders and partners to mobilize a major cultural shift that leads all Americans to the great outdoors. In just five years, the Foundation has invested $4 million into 785 not-for-profit and college programs that have connected 200,000 young people to the outdoors. Importantly, 90¢ of every dollar goes directly into this critical work. Visit us at outdoorfoundation.org and outdoornation.org for more information. 

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 10 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management.

About Latino Outdoors

With roots in the past, a presence in the present and vision for the future, Latino Outdoors is a network of leaders committed to engaging Latinos/as in the outdoors, connecting familias and youth with nature, and empowering our community of storytellers to explore and share their personal experiences. Our growing online platform allows participants to creatively document their cultural connections to conservation, the environment, and the Great American Outdoors with the world.

Buscan abrir puertas de parques nacionales a los latinos Posted on junio 3, 2016

This article originally appeared on Radio Bilingue,

Alicia Cruz al frente de la caminata. Foto: Fernando Torres.Durante un típico domingo costero, de sol y neblina, un grupo de unos 30 adultos y niños latinos comienzan a descender las faldas de la Montaña Tamalpais, en el Parque Nacional Golden Gate.

Al frente de los caminantes Lucio González, un mexicano residente de San Rafael y ex-trabajador del parque. Alerta sobre el roble venenoso y enseña las diferentes variedades de flores y plantas. Una de ellas es una planta que la llama la lechuga de minero.


La organización Latino Outdoors fue fundada hace tres años por el profesor José González, quien dice que la experiencia latina es a menudo pasada por alto, por el movimiento tradicional de recreación al aire libre.“Es una planta que se come –dice González-, cuando no había mucha comida, los mineros recogían esa planta y lo comían como una ensalada”

“Si sus padres son campesinos, trabajan en el fil; es diferente si crece uno en una ciudad”, dice José González: “Empecé a notar las barreras que había, especialmente en las comunidades inmigrantes. Sabemos que a las familias les gusta andar en los parques los domingos, pero en términos de lo que se considera outdoors, aquí en esta cultura estadunidense es diferente; lo que es hiking, lo que es camping, lo que es backpacking…como en español dicen mochilear, senderismo y todo eso…, noté la ausencia de familias como mis padres, de otros igual que yo”
Los parques nacionales son espacios públicos, pero no siempre han sido muy accesibles para todos. Muchas veces los latinos los desconocen, se les hace difícil llegar, y los anuncios publicitarios les hacen creer que para disfrutar de los parques se necesita comprar cierto tipo de ropa o zapatos. González dice que sólo se necesita ropa cómoda:

“Tratamos de no reforzar la idea de que uno tiene que vestir solamente de una manera específica, o comprar de una tienda, y eso es importante; porque es la narrativa que estamos demostrando, representando nuestra cultura de outdoors”, dice.

La idea se extendió rápidamente. Hoy Latino Outdoors se encuentra en otros estados como Washington, Texas y Nueva York, y sigue creciendo. La organización busca crear líderes latinos que cuiden el medio ambiente y participen activamente con sus historias y experiencias en los diálogos sobre la conservación de las áreas verdes.

 

En esta caminata, en el día internacional de las aves migratorias, miembros de la Sociedad Nacional Audubon acompañan a los caminantes, mostrándoles los diversos pájaros nativos y migratorios.

Trinar de pájaros…El pájaro Roble Titmouse… La Urraca Scott… El Halcón de cola roja…

La mexicana Rosa García se enteró sobre Latino Outdoors a través de un panfleto y trajo a su hija Isabel de cinco años.

“A ella no le gusta caminar, no le gusta el ejercicio, y con esto le ha gustado más. Para que también se salga ella de la casa, porque siempre estamos allí durante la semana”, dice García.

El papel que juegan los niños es muy importante según Alicia Cruz, coordinadora de la organización para los condados de Marin y San Francisco:
“El 80 por cientto de las personas que han venido aquí han continuado cada mes con nosotros”, dice Cruz. “Yo creo que los niños son los que jalan a los papas también. A un niño cuando se le siembra una semillita, como ella… Aquí esta ella explorando… se le queda, y esa semillita la lleva y entonces es ella la que le dice a la mamá: ‘vamos a caminar’… es un gusto, esto es un placer, esto me llena de alegría y más yo sigo aprendiendo… Estos parques son para nosotros, son tierras para nosotros también”, afirma Cruz.
Durante tres horas, el grupo baja por variados sistemas ecológicos, a través de bosques de árboles coníferos, praderas abiertas, arbustos costeros y una impredecible niebla marina, hasta llegar a la playa Stinson, en donde los espera un merecido almuerzo.
“Pueden venir más latinos a conocer esta área tan bonita y boscosa. Que nos mantengamos unidos. Es una buena manera de salir de casa, y no ver televisión y hacer cosas electrónicas todo el tiempo. Una distracción y buen ejercicio también”, dice Mendoza■Para la nicaragüense Claudia Mendoza, esta primera caminata con Latino Outdoors fue una experiencia nueva que espera repetir:

Para la Edición Semanaria del Noticiero Latino, desde el Condado de Marin, California, informó Fernando Andrés Torres.

Pioneer: José González

The founder of Latino Outdoors is looking for the next generation of advocates

By:Will Cockrell |Jun 5, 2016
This article originally appeared in Outside Magazine.
latino outdoors

Founder, Latino Outdoors | 34, Washington, D.C.

“Today we’re benefiting from the efforts of past conservation leaders. We have these aging white elders who worked to get things like theWilderness Act passed. Historically, it hasn’t been crucial to engage diverse communities. But now it’s critical. Demographics have changed, and we need to make sure that, a century from now, we’re celebrating 200 years of the parks.

“A group called Green 2.0 surveyed all the major environmental organizations for diversity, and the findings were dismal. The park system is either going to keep declining as its advocates get older and whiter, or it’s going to strengthen as they get older and whiter and younger and browner.

“The narrative has always been that hiking is for white people, or at least that you leave your culture at the trailhead. The main idea with Latino Outdoors is to increase access and opportunity for Latinos to have outdoor experiences and become responsible stewards of the land. We want to foster a sense of community—to create a hub for people with a similar background.

“We’re working with the Park Service on events, doing local hikes with families; we’re working with the National Parks Foundation to get our leaders’ stories out there. It’s a way of saying, ‘This is what a park advocate can look like.’ ”