Urban Corps Graduate Dionte Floyd Receives Price Scholarship

Urban Corps of San Diego County recently held commencement exercises for 40 young Corps members graduating from the onsite John Muir Charter School. Among the graduates was Dionte Floyd, recipient of a $10,000 Price Scholarship Award. “At first I never wanted to go to college,” said Floyd. “Now I have a son so its time to do something new. I want him to get older and see that his dad went to college. I want the best for him; I don’t want him to make the same mistakes that I did.” Floyd is leaning towards using the scholarship funds toward attaining a bachelors degree in business management, however he currently remains undecided. Floyd will attend San Diego City College downtown and will transfer to a four-year university with his associates degree. “I will know by the fall what I will major in,” he says. “I want to do something related to corrections or probations.”

For the Urban Corps Class of 2008, graduation doesn’t come with the regular pomp and circumstance. There are no limos, no proms, no Grad Night at Disneyland. The students are ages 18-25 who have faced too many of life’s challenges, too soon. They are high school dropouts, often young parents, many with past stories of drugs, gangs, and abuse. Urban Corps graduation marks a huge turning point in the lives of these at-risk youth. San Diego Padres pitcher Chris Young was on hand as keynote speaker. Also in attendance were other Corps members, Urban Corps staff, families and local officials.

The mistress of ceremonies was Kimberly King, formerly of KNSD/TV. The mission of The Price Scholarship Program is to increase the self confidence, cultivate the competence, and strengthen the character of deserving students in San Diego by supporting them in furthering their educational, professional, and career readiness skills. The Price Scholarship Program assists students from San Diego to complete an Associate Degree and/or Certificate Program at San Diego City College in two to three years. The assistance provided for students comes in many forms: financial assistance, seminars, individual counseling, mentoring, a program retreat, and social events. In exchange for this assistance, Price Scholars are required to perform 200 to 300 hours of community service or internships in the community each year they are enrolled in the program. “Not only is it a wonderful thing to see a young person to begin to unlock their true potential but for them to have an opportunity such as the Price Scholarship makes it even more special,” said Dan Thomas, Director of Education for John Muir Charter School at Urban Corps. “Many young people end up altering their life dreams due to economic hardship and opportunities such as this truly enable them to ‘make dreams come true.’”

The Price Scholarship Program helps prepare students for the job market by encouraging and assisting them in obtaining a Certificate of Completion or an Associate Degree. The program also provides them with valuable experience through structured job shadowing, community service assignments, and internships with local community agencies, schools, and businesses in the City Heights, Balboa Park, and the local community of San Diego.The Price Scholarship Program is made possible by Price Charities. The Urban Corps offers youth job training and an education while putting them to work in the environment. Corps members plant trees, clean up graffiti, restore urban watersheds and gather recyclables from throughout the county, including collection services following Padres games at Petco Park.

Urban Corp’s recently renovated its headquarters and charter school making every effort in building construction to foster energy-efficiency. This green-building will be a fully integrated, green modeled state-of-the art learning laboratory designed to expose Corps members to the latest technology available within the burgeoning environmental industry. Urban Corps also has plans for a LEED certified recycling education center which will serve as a training facility for Corps members and the citizens of San Diego County. The new center will accommodate a growth of up to 50% annually. The center will also serve as a multi-purpose resource for the entire San Diego region for educating, training and demonstrating the benefits of recycling and conservation.

---

Urban Corps Youth Get Tips on Going Green from Washington, DC

In an effort to showcase the Capitol building in Washington, DC as a model of environmental responsibility for future generations, Congresswoman Susan Davis and House Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard recently addressed a group of young Urban Corps members on the progress and lessons learned from the “Greening of the Capitol Initiative.” Beard and his team began implementing the initiative late last year and have since reported a variety of accomplishments. According to Beard, the replacement of old light bulbs with energy efficient florescent bulbs is resulting in an annual reduction of $120,000 in the House electric bill. In addition, 118 tons of garbage has been diverted from the waste stream since December of 2007. “You’re the first group of people I have spoken to who actually know what 118 tons of garbage looks and feels like,” Beard said to Urban Corps members, who collect recyclables at both Petco Park and Qualcomm stadium as part of a conservation services work-learn program.

Additional changes at the Capitol include a shift to 100% recycled paper, compostable cafeteria goods, a consolidation of servers to reduce energy consumption by 40 percent, duct sealing, and low VOC (volatile organic compounds) carpeting. The Capitol also makes fuel-efficient Zipcars and bicycles available to House employees. Beard told Corps members that his team has learned five important lessons from the experience: conservation is doable; carbon is a useful measure; set deadlines; support must come from the top, and “keep on truckin’! It’s that spirit of driving forward; you start out small and build something.” Urban Corp recently renovated its headquarters and charter school, making every effort to foster energy-efficiency, from skylights to allow for plenty of natural light, to low-flow sensory operated water features.

This green-building will be a fully integrated, green modeled state-of-the art learning laboratory designed to expose Corps members to the latest technology available within the burgeoning environmental industry. “Our impact on the environment is the responsibility of all, and I am happy to see that the Urban Corps of San Diego County is taking the lead in ‘going green,’” said Congresswoman Davis, who has been a friend of the Urban Corps for years, and was instrumental in helping the organization retain five work vehicles. The Urban Corps also has plans for a LEED certified recycling education center which will serve as a training facility for Corps members and the citizens of San Diego County.

The Urban Corps currently processes 500 tons of recyclables a year from collections at Petco Park, Qualcomm Stadium and a variety of restaurants and businesses around town. The new center will accommodate a growth of up to 50% annually. The center will also serve as a multi-purpose resource for the entire San Diego region for educating, training and demonstrating how recycling and conservation: preserves natural resources; reduces pollution; reduces waste hauling costs/expenses; and employs at-risk youth.

The center will include fun, hands-on educational exhibits as well as demonstrations on closed-loop recycling.

---

Foo Fighters Support Trees for San Diego’s Fire Damaged Areas!

Exercising their Eco-Friendly muscle on tour, the Foo Fighters have chosen to support local communities through TreeBank, the online community fund for trees, in every city where they have a concert promoting their new album, “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.”

Fans who want to help the environment and enjoy a great concert can snag themselves excellent seats while supporting their local Tree Bank at the same time.A limited quantity of premium tickets for the March 3rd San Diego show at Cox Arena/SDSU are available only through online auctions at TicketMaster.com. Proceeds above the face value of these tickets go directly to the local non-profit Urban Corps of San Diego County. Funds will be used to plant trees in areas throughout the county burned during the October 2007 wildfires.

Urban Corps of San Diego County Announces Capital Campaign To Fund Growth and Expand Facilities to Benefit San Diego’s At-Risk Youth

Urban Corps of San Diego County announced it is moving forward with an extensive capital campaign to help fund continued expansion of services and facilities at their Midway Site. The completed capital projects being undertaken will cost nearly $6 million. Since 2003 Urban Corps has quietly raised $3.9 million through an innovative campaign combining public, private, and earned income funding. The Corps has set a capital campaign goal to raise $2.1 million of the total expansion costs within the community over the next few years. Read press release (PDF)

Urban Corps members help prepare for storms in fire damaged area...

click here to view NBC 7-39 News video.

 

Urban Corps Members Help Fire Victims

Immediately after the fires Urban Corps’ staff and corps members worked with Qualcomm management to assist the thousands of San Diego residents taking refuge at the stadium. Crews of corps members helped sort and receive donations and collected recyclables at the Q while others worked to help control the traffic flow at San Diego High School.

After the 2003 wild fires Urban Corps youth worked throughout San Diego County on emergency response assistance to help with erosion control and to restore fire damaged habitat. The Urban Corps will begin working with City and State officials to help with recovery efforts as soon as it is safe to do so.

Through a grant from the Gary and Mary West Foundation, Urban Corps Members work on fire relief projects. Please click here for a related slideshow. All of us at the Urban Corps send our thoughts and prayers to those who have lost their homes and have been displaced by the fires.

 

Accolades – State and local officials were on hand for the E.A.R.T.H. Awards, honoring local businesses, individuals, and community organizations. Pictured from left is State Director of the Department of Conservation, California Resources Agency – Bridget Luther; Qualcomm Stadium GM - Erik Stover; and Urban Corps CEO Sam Duran.Mr. Stover was being honored on behalf of Qualcomm for their recycling efforts. Based on a recycling program at Qualcomm that is managed by Urban Corps, the total tonnage recycled during the 2006 season was 66 tons, compared with 38 tons for the 2005 football season. On hand to present the awards were San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, Councilmember Donna Frye, and Supervisor Pam Slater-Price.

Urban Corps Members work with architect James Hubbell and the Americas Foundation on the Esperanza School Complex in Tijuana, Mexico

James Hubbell’s llan-Lael Foundation joined with the America Foundation to bring architects and novices together for a construction project at the Esperanza School Complex in Tijuana, Mexico. With the help of many hands and volunteers since the project’s start in 1986, the Esperanza School complex now contains classrooms for students grades K-12, administration rooms, a kitchen and dining room, a ballet dance classroom, and outdoor showers to accompany the playing field. Colonia Esperanza is located in what was once one of the “irregular” zones or colonia.

Corpsmembers doing tile work at the Esperanza School Complex in Tijuana, Mexico

These zones are areas of orchestrated invasion where the land is settled and heavily populated before public utilities are installed. There is no running water, no electricity, and no bathrooms. Most of the shanties, scratched out of an old municipal dump, have dirt floors and no windows. Nine thousand children, most of them poor, migrate to Tijuana each year with their families. Sixty colonias and towns lack schools.

Classrooms and Play Area

It is the need for schools in this area that led to the establishment of the Americas Foundation. For this year’s project, the class and volunteers worked with James Hubbell to help design and start a new amphitheatre.

The Urban Corps sent two staff and two corps members to participate in this three day workshop working alongside legendry artist and architect James Hubbell and his son, Drew, on projects that gave staff and corps members a chance to learn new trades while giving back to the global community. Volunteers worked long hours to install tile mosaics and our more than five cubic yards of concrete.

James Hubbell with school children from the Esperanza School

Corps members have had the opportunity to work with Mr. Hubbell on a number of projects and CEO, Sam Duran, is presently discussing the idea of having Mr. Hubbell guide corps members on tile projects at the new Urban Corps facility in Midway. Stay tuned…

Urban Corps of San Diego County Receives National Award for University of San Diego (USD) Collaboration
    
After months of sharing ideas, visiting each other’s campuses and planning, the Urban Corps of San Diego County’s on-site Charter High School and the University of San Diego’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences have partnered to create the Urban Corps Assessment and Counseling Clinic (UC-ACC).
    
This collaboration provides Urban Corps participants the opportunity to receive both personal and career counseling services from Graduate Students in USD’s Counseling Program. Under the supervision of Ronn Johnson, Ph. D., ABPP; Fellow, American Board of Clinical Psychology, and Director of Clinical Instruction; these USD students come to the Urban Corps of San Diego on a daily basis to assess and counsel at-risk youth in the on-site UC-ACC office.

The UC-ACC program is now written into Dr. Johnson’s course curriculum syllabus and enables him to place his students in a working clinical environment, exposing them to practical (non textbook) situations involving real young adults facing real-life issues.

“This partnership represents an exciting start for what should be a mutually rewarding clinical experience for USD students and Urban Corp participants.” Said Dr. Johnson

“The ultimate goal of the Urban Corps is to equip disenfranchised and at-risk youth with skills to excel in life, not merely survive.  Coupled with our extensive vocational training and education, the counseling component adds an additional layer of service that is greatly needed for many of the young adults in the program who face multiple barriers to success” said Dan Thomas, MST, and Director of Education for Urban Corp’s Charter School. “There is enormous mutual benefit in this collaboration for both organizations and it has great potential to evolve into other areas that benefit both the students in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at USD and the young people and staff at the Urban Corps of San Diego County.”

Sam Duran, Urban Corps’ Chief Executive Officer, was delighted that the partnership was being recognized on a National level. “The beauty of this collaboration is the experience it provides these master’s level USD students while giving Urban Corps members and the organization a valuable service that neither the corps members nor a typical non-profit could afford on a full time basis. Many of the USD students have also taken on the extra responsibility of helping our teachers in the classroom and of mentoring our students. They are truly helping us make a difference in the lives of the young adults in our program. Dan Thomas and Dr. Johnson deserve much of the credit for having the foresight to see the significance of this collaboration and I have nothing but praise for their work in making it possible,” said Duran.

This partnership will be recognized with an award for Best Strategic Partnership at the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps’ (NASCC) Annual Forum in Washington DC. The Award Ceremony will be held on Capitol Hill on Tuesday February 14, 2007. State legislators are expected to attend.

Urban Corps of San Diego County is proud to have been chosen by Las Patronas as a Major Beneficiary for the 2007 Jewel Ball ARTRAGEOUS. Las Patronas is committed to providing financial assistance to non-profit organizations in San Diego county that provide valuable community services in the areas of health, education, social services, and cultural arts, and to continuing it’s tradition of service to enhance the quality of life in the San Diego community.

NEW & EXCITING PARTNERSHIP

Urban Corps is partnering with the UCSD/Scripps Institute of Oceanography in a new and exciting partnership to implement and fine tune Best Management Practices (BMP’s) in Storm Water Pollution Prevention.  In just a few years, every sizeable facility along California’s coast, public and private, will be required to implement a Storm Water Pollution Prevention plan, and this pilot project may place Urban Corps in the forefront of a new and emerging industry to train corpsmembers in.

Joining in this partnership is the Bank of America Foundation ($15,000 match towards corpsmember hours) and we anticipate the AT&T Foundation joining this partnership soon ($5,000 match towards technology for the project).

CHOLLAS CREEK RESTORATION CONTINUES

Now in our second year of restoration work on Chollas Creek, Urban Corps would like to thank and recognize the San Diego Foundation/Environmental for their continued support in providing $40,000 matching funds toward a project at the 252 Corridor Park at 38th and Alpha Street.  These funds will go towards a much larger project, partnering with the City of San Diego (Planning Dept., Parks & Rec. Dept., and Storm Water Division), Groundwork San Diego/Chollas Creek, and the Sierra Clubs Friends of Chollas Creek group.

A SIGNATURE ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT:
ADOBE FALLS