Berkeley awarded $5 million in prop 68 funding for development of the sfrow
On December 8, 2021, Berkeley was awarded a $5 million competitive grant from Round 4 of the Statewide Parks Program (SPP) for the Santa Fe Railroad Trackbed to Parks Conversion Project.
This project will remediate the soils at four vacant parcels of the former Santa Fe Railroad trackbed in South Berkeley and convert them into an urban oasis park with the following features: new community and pollinator gardens, an
orchard and outdoor classroom space, play structures, walking paths, and dog park.
This project was the result of a year-long community process convened by the City’s Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department and involved the input of over 130 community residents.
This project will develop the four largest and most feasible parcels into new parkland for all to enjoy, from Ward St heading north to Blake Street, and is a much needed open space development in park-deficient South Berkeley.
Round 4 of the SPP program, funded by California Proposition 68, awarded a total of $548.3 million in grants to 112 grant projects comprised of 50 new parks projects and 62 expansions of existing parks.
To follow this project on the City’s website, please visit the following page and scroll down to the Santa Fe Right-of-Way park development links: PRW Capital Improvements Projects (CIP) - City of Berkeley, CA
www.cityofberkeley.info/PRW_CIP/
This project will remediate the soils at four vacant parcels of the former Santa Fe Railroad trackbed in South Berkeley and convert them into an urban oasis park with the following features: new community and pollinator gardens, an
orchard and outdoor classroom space, play structures, walking paths, and dog park.
This project was the result of a year-long community process convened by the City’s Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department and involved the input of over 130 community residents.
This project will develop the four largest and most feasible parcels into new parkland for all to enjoy, from Ward St heading north to Blake Street, and is a much needed open space development in park-deficient South Berkeley.
Round 4 of the SPP program, funded by California Proposition 68, awarded a total of $548.3 million in grants to 112 grant projects comprised of 50 new parks projects and 62 expansions of existing parks.
To follow this project on the City’s website, please visit the following page and scroll down to the Santa Fe Right-of-Way park development links: PRW Capital Improvements Projects (CIP) - City of Berkeley, CA
www.cityofberkeley.info/PRW_CIP/
Garden Paint Day!
We celebrated the end of this challenging distance-learning semester & successful project year with our Berkeley High students by having an arts & crafts/ paint day in the lovely BYA garden. We are so proud of our students and all they were able to accomplish this past year DESPITE all of the challenges. Our Berkeley High mentees were gifted with two awesome summer reading books, The Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzales which provides social and political context of Latinx migration and history in the US, and Gaia's Garden, an all-encompassing guide to permaculture.
Our project year will begin again in Fall 2021, with our Berkeley High SENIORS!!
Our project year will begin again in Fall 2021, with our Berkeley High SENIORS!!
MSBF featured in Edible East Bay
Spring Garden Work Day: Center for Food, Faith & Justice
Our project team volunteered at the Center for Food, Faith, and Justice Spring Garden work event at McGee Baptist Church in South Berkeley. We helped weed, prepare the garden bed, and plant vegetables & native plants at CFFJ's garden. The produce is given out to members of the community and the hope for the next harvest is to start a community farm stand. Our interns had the best time getting their hands dirty and connecting with our wonderful mother Earth!
Prop 68 Grant Meetings
Excitingly, the City of Berkeley Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront Department is applying for state Prop 68 funding for the development of the SFROW into park land. Prop 68 funds the Statewide Park Program (SPP), which is in its Round 4 ($395.3 million available). It is a competitive program for the creation of new parks and recreation opportunities in underserved communities across California
The grant application was submitted on March 12th, 2021. We will post updates about the grant application as we hear!
Please take a look at the tentative green space conceptual design put together by PGA Landscape Architects
Resiliency in the face of COVID-19 and Racism
As we know, the Coronavirus pandemic has illuminated the many cracks in our system that let our most vulnerable populations slip through. African Americans and other communities of color are disproportionatley impacted by COVID-19 both in terms of health and economic hardship. In the wake of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the many other black lives taken by police violence, it is crucial that we remain resilient, connected, and persistent.
Police brutality is just a part of this intertwined mess. It's an obvious killer. However, we need to remember that there are so many silent killers at play in communities of color. Our system perpetuates and reproduces vulnerability. We need redistribution of power, wealth, and resources. We need political action. We need community engagement. We need empowerment.
Our mission at Moving South Berkeley Forward is now, more than ever, of the utmost importance. The South Berkeley community deserves equitable access to green spaces, urban gardens, and fresh produce. Our Berkeley High students of color deserve an equal opportunity to better our world and become the next generation of environmental justice advocates.
We are still fighting for this goal, working remotely, and importantly, are here for you. Our students are currently planning community survey events for the future when it is okay to do so, and our plan is to begin soil sampling at the SFROW in the fall. Please reach out to us and share any thoughts you have about our current situations.
- Kayhill Verceles, Project Coordinator
Police brutality is just a part of this intertwined mess. It's an obvious killer. However, we need to remember that there are so many silent killers at play in communities of color. Our system perpetuates and reproduces vulnerability. We need redistribution of power, wealth, and resources. We need political action. We need community engagement. We need empowerment.
Our mission at Moving South Berkeley Forward is now, more than ever, of the utmost importance. The South Berkeley community deserves equitable access to green spaces, urban gardens, and fresh produce. Our Berkeley High students of color deserve an equal opportunity to better our world and become the next generation of environmental justice advocates.
We are still fighting for this goal, working remotely, and importantly, are here for you. Our students are currently planning community survey events for the future when it is okay to do so, and our plan is to begin soil sampling at the SFROW in the fall. Please reach out to us and share any thoughts you have about our current situations.
- Kayhill Verceles, Project Coordinator