How might we take excess rainwater and put it to good use? This past February, we rolled up our sleeves and did some rain gardening in East Palo Alto – a water re-directing, fresh dirt-filled, joyful planting experience! We did this with Climate Resilient Communities (CRC) – our new Climate Justice Grantee Partner, and Fresh Approach. 

In this family-friendly Get Proximate event with SV2, 5 SV2 Partners and 1 staff participated alongside 20+ fellow community members. We learned about our water sources in the Bay Area and the importance of water conservation. We soon got to work! The day comprised weeding and cleaning up the garden site, digging holes, and preparing rain barrels. 

We had a very energizing and tangible experience working with CRC and Fresh Approach, two trusted and strong climate resiliency leaders in our communities. Here is what some of our Partners had to say about their experience and how it impacted them:

“We helped prep the site for a rain garden, to control overflow run-off and additional rain water absorption, while also providing a spot for added greenery. Hands-on volunteering alongside our non-profit partners gives me a deeper connection to  their work and the communities they serve.” – Lisa Guerra, SV2 Partner and Board Member 

“The Get Proximate CRC Rain Garden event was a wonderful way to connect, both with members of the SV2 community, and with members of the Climate Resilient Communities ecosystem of local citizens and groups.  A great chance to learn about the details of rainwater collection–I had always thought it wasn’t worth the trouble in our Mediterranean climate, when rains come over a limited period of three to four months.  I learned why I was wrong, and am now actively investigating the possibility of a pilot installation at my senior community.  It was also a chance to get wet and silly on a rainy Saturday morning: my weeding partner and I got wedged under a giant cactus and were in hysterics about the contortions it took to get free!”  – Nancy Grove, SV2 Partner and Partner Champion, Climate Resilient Communities 

“Seeing rain barrels installed makes real the concept of saving rainwater to water plants.”  – Arthur Keller, SV2 Partner

More context about CRC’s Rain Garden initiative:

“A main outcome of the 2020 East Palo Alto (EPA) Community Vulnerability Assessment was an emphasis on nature-based solutions to climate change, especially pertaining to flooding. Despite this widespread community interest, most EPA residents lack the training, information, and capital needed to install and maintain natural infrastructure in their own homes and neighborhoods.

The purpose of this project is to bring together, educate, and train EPA residents to install rain gardens and cisterns in local homes that mitigate flooding, drought, extreme heat, and other climate change impacts. Our goal is to create a community- and science-based strategy for city-wide scaling of rainwater harvesting systems, as well as garden/cistern installation and maintenance at a subset of EPA residences.

We are currently working to build 25 rain gardens and cisterns in East Palo Alto. The first phase of the project involves feasibility mapping, followed by workshops and informational sessions on natural infrastructure by CRC and project partners to share types, benefits, and resources for installation.”

Source: East Palo Alto Rain Garden & Water Cistern Installation | Climate Resilient Communities

We learned so much about frontline communities, community-informed and led solutions, and opportunities. As we connected with changemakers, we learned that climate justice includes supporting frontline communities in building resilience to climate change, addressing environmental consequences of our fossil fuel economy, and providing benefits from the transition economy.

In our Grant Round, we had an in-depth process of connecting with community members and leaders, and getting their organization nominations. We are grateful to Acterra, our Alumni Grantee Partner, for participating in our “Chat with Youth”, shortlisting, and decision-making process. 

We selected Brightline Defense and Climate Resilient Communities as our new Grantee Partners. 

Brightline Defense is an environmental justice nonprofit organization that works to empower communities and create sustainable environments. The Brightline team blends public policy advocacy and on-the-ground partnerships to promote sustainability and opportunity in traditionally underserved communities. Brightline promotes sustainable policies ranging from local hiring to clean energy to energy efficiency. Brightline’s team of community-oriented lawyers connects communities most in need to critical policymaking levers at the local and state level, which can be then modeled nationwide.

Climate Resilient Communities (CRC) has a volunteer-driven commitment to helping residents reduce their energy costs, improve home health, and gain access to local resources like subsidized solar panels and home energy audits, and weatherization upgrades. Since 2016 Climate Resilient Communities has been on the ground learning the specific needs of residents in diverse, under-resourced communities in East Palo Alto and Belle Haven (Menlo Park).

We’re currently organizing opportunities for SV2 to meaningfully engage with both phenomenal organizations!

This Grant Round was thoughtfully and skillfully co-led by Jennifer McFarlane and Nancy Grove.

We continued to advance equity and trust-based philanthropy practices, with positive feedback.

We’re thrilled to announce that Redwood City Together was selected as the new Community Initiative Grantee Partner, and will receive $500,000 of unrestricted funding over the next three years. 

This amazing Grantee Partner was selected by a Core Team of community leaders, SV2 Partners, and staff who made this grant decision on behalf of SV2. Join us for a “Shareback Session” (Wednesday, January 25 from 11am-12pm on Zoom) to hear more about the Core Team’s process and learn about the work of Redwood City Together. Having community leaders so deeply involved in shaping a grantmaking strategy and funding allocation is a significant step for SV2 towards participatory grantmaking, and is a way we are seeking to live our value of sharing power. This was a new approach for us, and the learnings were rich and deep. Join us to hear more and enter into that experience! RSVP here.

Redwood City Together (RWCT) advances the success of youth and families in Redwood City and North Fair Oaks through community collaboration. Through our learning process about RWCT, the Core Team members were impressed by Redwood City Together’s 

• strong BIPOC leadership, with commitment to developing community leadership in partner agencies; 
• strong connections both to grassroots community and to city government; 
• systems-level thinking and partnerships to drive systems change; 
• inclusion of youth voice; 
• deep partnerships with many community based organizations, including multiple SV2 Grantee Partners in the North Fair Oaks community;
• many entry points and stated desire for engagement with SV2 Partners in various volunteer and engagement roles

We are so excited to start engaging with this dynamic and impactful initiative working deeply in their community! We expect there will be many engagement points for SV2 Partners, from direct volunteering in the community, to participating on RWCT working groups, to attending SV2 events where RWCT and their partner agencies share their work.

Here are a few next steps you can take to engage (and there will be many more along the way, this is just a start):

• Let us know of your interest by filling out this short form (no commitment, just interest!)
• Come to a Shareback Learning Lab hosted by the Core Team, as they share more about what it was like to make this grant decision on behalf of SV2. This was a new approach for us, and the learnings were rich and deep. Join us on January 25 from 11am-12pm on Zoom to hear more and enter into that experience! RSVP here. 
• Read a summary of RWCT’s work and structure in this Overview Document – it describes the Community Initiative process as well as much more detail about RWCT.
• You can read notes and/or listen to recordings from the Coffee Chats, Collaboration Brainstorm sessions, and the November 1 meeting when the initiatives shared their work with SV2 Partners.

Questions? 

Reach out to Jody Chang any time at jchang@sv2.org.