Posts Tagged: youth

Elkus Ranch adds enabling garden

The Elkus Ranch, an environmental education and conference facility in Half Moon Bay, was created to provide outdoor education opportunities for urban, disabled and inner-city youth. It sits on land donated to UC Cooperative Extension by the late Richard J. Elkus.

A milestone in realizing the Elkus Ranch mission was reached with the opening this spring of a new "enabling garden." A recent ribbon cutting was covered by the San Mateo County Times.

The garden, built by ranch foreman Augie Aguilar and groundskeeper Bruno Acosta, has raised beds of varying heights, some with cutouts for wheelchairs, so youths can have up-close access to the garden without bending or kneeling, the article said. The beds contain flowers, herbs, root crops and vegetables.

"We wanted to make sure that everyone who comes to Elkus Ranch, regardless of ability or disability, can connect with the dirt," the story quoted Leslie Jensen, Elkus program coordinator and a certified horticultural therapist. "An area has been provided for training, workshops and demonstrations of principles and techniques for horticultural therapy for special education teachers."

According to Ranch Talk, the Elkus Ranch newsletter, the project was funded by support from the Atkinson Foundation, the Strong Foundation for Environmental Values, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the National Gardening Association.

Bill Crandall of the Atkinson Foundation attended the garden's recent ribbon cutting.

"It's nice to experience the outcome of our donation and to see it go to such a thoughtful project," he was quoted in the newsletter.

 

Enabling garden ribbon cutting.

UC to work with new Placer County youth commission

UC Cooperative Extension may join with Placer County Health and Human Services to provide guidance to a new youth commission being considered by the Placer County Board of Supervisors, according to a story in the Auburn Journal.

The project aims to give a voice to youth in Placer County government. Fifteen young people aged 14 to 21 will be enlisted to identify issues facing local youth and bring ideas to the Board of Supervisors, all of whom are 40 or older.

Supervisor Jim Holmes will be asking the board to approve the commission at their meeting tomorrow.

“This is an opportunity for us to get a better sense of the issues,” Holmes is quoted. “We see the negative in the papers but there’s also a lot of good being done.”

Holmes wishes to have the youth commission, which would receive federal and state funds, in place at the beginning of the next school year.

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