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The year 2017 brought us many troubling events and headlines, but we continue to find inspiration within our community of colleagues, grantees and supporters. We are grateful for your support and partnership as we continue to make Good News for communities and the environment in 2018 and beyond.
The Rose Foundation was pleased to learn that our New Voices Are Rising program earned a grant through the California Natural Resources Agency’s Urban Greening Grant Program to green the Academy’s campus! We’ve drafted a plan to plant 48 trees on the Coliseum College Prep Academy campus and break up and remove pavement to let the soil breathe.
Astronomers will tell you how unique and priceless Earth’s breathable atmosphere seems when looking at the toxic clouds on Venus or the nearly airless deserts of Mars, but most Bay Area residents who on most days enjoy clear skies hadn’t reflected on the value of the air they breathe until the Northern California fires filled the region with smoke.
“Here’s how we get the fifth graders to pay attention.” Kneeling on the dunes in a clump of native buckwheat, our guide coaxed a fat red ant onto her fingers, popped it between her teeth and quickly bit it in half. Grinning back at us, she offered the rest of us our own ant to try…
This World Rivers Day, September 24, the Rose Foundation reflected on the value of rivers, and our role in protecting these vital veins and arteries of our planet. In many ways California is on the leading edge when it comes to environmental protection, yet of the over 66,000 miles of assessed rivers in the state, over 90% are too degraded or polluted to meet state water quality standards.
Cleaning products are meant to remove dirt and germs from our homes, but often do so using toxic chemicals. We awarded the Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA) a $50,000 grant through our Consumer Products Fund to promote the use of greener cleaning products among Latino immigrant domestic workers.
Our students’ learning journey this summer has taken them to the American River, the Richmond refinery communities, and the EBMUD West Oakland wastewater treatment plant. Students also planted trees to provide shade for a local nursery school, met with legislators in Sacramento, and completed externships to gain work experiences with local environmental organizations.
Our students are currently learning about energy and water policy. Last Friday, our students visited Lake Pardee, the reservoir that houses Oakland’s drinking water. There they went inside the reservoir’s dam, toured a hydroelectric powerhouse and watched the dam operators open a sluice gate.
This past month, the Rose Foundation was pleased to receive over $500,000 in cy pres funds from Facebook through the Fraley v. Facebook case. Cy pres funds like these enable grantmaking to groups working toward environmental justice, consumer protection and consumer privacy.
Read our print newsletter to hear about what Rose Foundation grantees thought of the elections in November and get updated on other events. The newsletter includes stories about our graduating New Voices students and about our grassroots training institute.
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