We are excited to share that Grassroots Ecology is the recipient of a $770,000 multi-year grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF) for community-based habitat restoration work at three sites in Redwood City.

Most of the funding will go towards restoration work on Cordilleras Creek at the Redwood High School campus, including the big job of removing over 20 eucalyptus trees, several acacias, and a stand of giant reed (Arundo donax), a bamboo-like invasive plant, to make way for native trees and understory plants. We are looking forward to working with students at this alternative high school to bring this project to fruition.

As an alternative continuation high school, Redwood High School serves 11th and 12th grade students who would benefit from smaller class sizes; many need to recover credits, and a high proportion are low-income and classified as English learners either currently or in the past. We are already making plans with teachers at the school to engage students in the restoration process from start to finish! A new horticulture class presents a perfect opportunity to get students involved in some native plant propagation.

In addition to the work at Redwood High School, this grant funds restoration work at two other sites. These are a section of creekside habitat behind a new affordable housing project on Redwood Creek downstream of Veterans Boulevard, and a section of creek in front of the newly built Navigation Center, an interim supportive housing facility for people experiencing homelessness.

At these sites, we are partnering with Nuestra Casa who has deep relationships with the Latinx community of Redwood City and North Fair Oaks to engage these groups in hands-on restoration and provide stipends to participants.

Our new project sites in Redwood City aim to increase native plant habitat along urban creek corridors. Volunteers gather at Redwood Creek and it looks like former Grassroots Ecology *Watershed Stewards Program Corpsmember,* Dmitrius Rodriguez, found a strange piece of litter along the creek bank!

Rounding out our list of partners on this project are City Trees (a local urban forestry nonprofit), Each Green Corner (who built a food garden at the Redwood High School campus), the San Jose Conservation Corps, the City of Redwood City, and the County of San Mateo.

Volunteers gather at Redwood Creek to increase biodiversity and beautify the area with native plants.

Bringing all of these elements together is a significant undertaking, not to mention the lengthy process of contracting with the federal government.

Without our community of supporters, it would not be possible to do this work, all of which happens before we see a single dollar from the grant.

Thank you for sticking by us through this important phase of work, whether that has been through donations or joining us out at volunteer workdays. We couldn’t do it without you!

Stay tuned for more updates on our upcoming creekside restoration work!

From the Field

Fostering a Deeper Impact in Redwood City