Outdoor Equity

The City of Richmond was awarded a $700,000 grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation’s Outdoor Equity Grants Program. The program helps advance Governor Gavin Newsom’s “Outdoor Access for All” initiative and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and the Natural Resources Agency’s “Outdoors for All” initiative by funding outdoor program access for underserved communities.

The competitive program received 384 applications totaling $167.78 million in requests. 125 proposals were awarded funding from the $57 million available. Richmond nonprofits YES Nature to Neighborhoods and Richmond Police Activities League also received funding from the grant program.

The grant will fund the City of ROutdoor Equity Grant Announcementichmond Community Services Department, Recreation Division’s Youth Outdoors Richmond program, which will empower Richmond youth to access Richmond’s shoreline parks, trails, and vast open spaces that comprise the East Bay Regional Parks and explore nature outside of Richmond. The program will be available at no cost to participants.

The program will also include engagement at local parks in partnership with Groundwork Richmond and The Watershed Project. Participants will engage in activities such as creek monitoring, design challenge activities, educational walks, kayaking, and tree and watershed stewardship activities through these partnerships.

Richmond families helped plan the program activities and locations through a series of outreach events and surveys that took place in the summer and fall of 2021. Among many outdoor activities, families expressed interest in fishing, horseback riding, environmental stewardship, and overnight camping, all of which will be included in the program.

Youth Outdoors Richmond is expected to launch in summer 2023, so stay tuned!