2018 Report to the Community

Sister Stephanie Hughes believes nature can restore body and soul. When she first started exploring the Presidio, she was using a walker—the result of a “horrible past” and health afflictions. But then, she stepped into the parks. “I felt the dirt under my feet and it was different; I felt alive,” she recalls.

Being outdoors changed her life, and now she wants “the community to heal in the same manner that [she] was healed.” After getting trained by Camping at the Presidio, Sister Stephanie has been bringing people from “fight or flight” neighborhoods roiled by violence to Rob Hill Campground. During the past 12 years, she has guided thousands of adults and kids from across the Bay Area on park trips. “A lot of the children are shut up and shut in and hurting, but when we bring them to open spaces, you can see the hardness shell away, like an onion,” she says, “because they are experiencing peace and tranquility for the very first time.”

Michael Bennett, another leader in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood, also saw how “park prescriptions” helped improve the health of his community. He was among the first to partner with the Conservancy’s Jennifer Greene Ringgold and other park staff in cultivating trust in the Bayview and arranging free shuttles to the Presidio. Since 2012, Michael has introduced hundreds of residents to their national parks — and he hopes to nurture even more park ambassadors through youth internships. “One of my dreams is for folks of color to have an opportunity to come out here and work in the Presidio,” Michael says.

Connecting People & Parks: Community Supporters from Parks Conservancy on Vimeo.

Like many of her Parks Conservancy colleagues, restoration specialist Ruby Kwan plays a vital role not just in the life cycle of endangered species in the parklands — but also in the lives of young people emerging into adulthood.

On a wet, windy day on Milagra Ridge, Ruby teaches the finer points of planting lupines to a group of students from Pacifica’s Oceana High School, including freshman Daniel Geronimo. It’s a new experience for soft-spoken Daniel, who continues to gain confidence (as well as ecological knowledge) as a volunteer for the Conservancy-managed native plant nursery at Oceana.

“Personally, what I like about this program is meeting some new friends and cooperating with lots of teamwork and effort,” Daniel says.

Ruby is part of a team that’s trying to reestablish healthy populations of lupine — a host plant for the endangered Mission blue butterfly. Last year, a multi-partner project “translocated” 30 of the butterflies to Milagra Ridge to boost the local population that was nearly wiped out.

As fulfilling as that difficult work has been, however, Ruby derives just as much satisfaction nurturing the growth of Oceana students. She’s an alumna. “It really brings great joy,” she says.

Connecting People & Parks: Ecologists & Students from Parks Conservancy on Vimeo.

Through the I-YEL (Inspiring Young Emerging Leaders) program at Crissy Field Center, Sarah Hoang gained the confidence to greet thousands of visitors on Alcatraz during a park internship. Anthony Rodriguez developed the skills to guide elementary school students at Rob Hill Campground for Camping at the Presidio programs. And Tatyana Chapman “grew out of [her] shell” to become a leader who encourages other participants to find their voice.

Sarah, Anthony, and Tatyana are among the 60,000 young people who benefit from youth leadership and education programs of the Parks Conservancy and its partner organizations at Golden Gate. The Presidio Tunnel Tops — a 14-acre parkland taking shape between Crissy Field and the Main Post — features an expanded youth campus that will introduce even more kids to life-changing park experiences, hands-on ecological lessons, and new career possibilities.

“Some of the additional facilities that are a part of the Tunnel Tops project are going to enable us to triple the number of youth that we can serve,” says Martha Ehmann Conte, a Parks Conservancy Trustee and a leading supporter of the Tunnel Tops. “That’s really the heart of what we are doing.”

The soul, meanwhile, is fostering connections between young people and their parklands — and among their peers.

“One of the values that I-YEL has is to reach out to other youths — kids who don’t usually come to the parks,” Sarah says.

Connecting People & Parks: Youth Leaders & Parks Conservancy Trustee from Parks Conservancy on Vimeo.

Seeing schoolchildren stretch out to mimic the wingspan of hawks was especially heartwarming for Tom Meyer, who sought to start a raptor education program when his wife Jennie Rhine passed away in 2014.

Tom wanted to connect kids and birds to remember Jennie, a longtime volunteer bander with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO). Through his gift, Parks Conservancy staff with the GGRO and Crissy Field Center created Migratory Story, a program that brings 4th and 5th graders from San Francisco Unified School District to Hawk Hill to study raptor migration. For many students who come from immigrant families, it's their first visit to a national park.

“Some of those students have only been in the country a couple weeks, so this theme of migration…they’re living it right now,” explains Francis Taroc, the Center’s senior specialist for environmental science.

While forging meaningful connections to the parks, the program also builds essential skills. “That process of inquiry and investigation is something that’s really important to build on, in whatever career or path these students take,” Francis says.

Tom adds that Jennie would have “a big smile on her face” — knowing that Migratory Story is helping kids spread their wings, at school and in life.

Connecting People & Parks: Donors & Educators from Parks Conservancy on Vimeo.

For Greg Reza, volunteer program coordinator for Marin County Parks, there’s something almost primal about gathering community members to work toward a goal.

“When people come together to do restoration or trail work, we’re actually working together in the way that humans always have,” Greg observes. “We’re doing something that goes back way deep into our history.”

That spirit of camaraderie is the heart of One Tam—a collaborative of the Parks Conservancy, MCP, National Park Service, California State Parks, and Marin Municipal Water District. By sharing resources and expertise, the agencies can better care for Mt. Tamalpais and nurture a new generation of stewards through programs like LINC (Linking Individuals with the Natural Community).

Greg and William Hough, One Tam’s youth and community program manager, partner to lead 17 high schoolers on a seven-week internship experience across Mt. Tam. By the end, the students have grown as conservationists — and as teammates.

“What they’re getting back isn’t the instant gratification of a Tweet…they’re getting back from giving,” William says. “We’re in a neat position where we can teach people that—or not even teaching—facilitating them to learn on their own.”

And, of course, they learn from One Tam’s own example of teamwork.

Connecting People & Parks: Partner Agencies from Parks Conservancy on Vimeo.

Former U.S. Army Sgt. Gilberto Estrada was deployed in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012, providing security for bomb detection units and searching for “high value targets” with possible terrorist ties. Early on his deployment, a dump truck loaded with 1,400 pounds of homemade explosive drove up to the gate of his combat outpost and detonated.

“Pretty much after that day, my mentality — what I was trying to teach my soldiers — was: You have to be prepared, at any moment, to react,” Gilberto recalls. “My philosophy at that point was, tell yourself: ‘Something is going to happen today.’”

Although that vigilance helped him through those months, Gilberto says that, years later, he’s still working through the aftershocks of that stress. The Golden Gate National Parks — and welcoming park staff — have been instrumental in helping Gilberto recover and transition into civilian life.

He has worked as an intern on a Concrete Preservation Institute project on Alcatraz, weeded in the Alcatraz Historic Gardens, discovered new interests through the Presidio Archeology Lab, pitched in with the National Park Service trail crew, and found serenity in visiting parks “at least three times a week.”

“The soothing sensation of the water — and even the racket that the seagulls are making — it’s like, ‘Why would you not want to be out here?’” Gilberto says.

Gilberto has been a regular participant on guided trips to the park through the W.A.R.I.O.R. (Wellness and Recovery Incorporating Outdoor Recreation) program, started in 2016 by park staff in collaboration with Mark Smith, staff occupational therapist with the Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

“I’ve seen [the benefits] with many of the veterans who come on these trips,” Mark says. “They talk about really feeling a sense of calm and peace out there; they’re able to relax and let their guard down a little bit.”

Connecting People & Parks: Veterans Find Peace & Purpose from Parks Conservancy on Vimeo.