What is the Urban Corps and how do we help San Diego County?
We are a locally-based nonprofit that provides education and jobs to young adults aged 18-25. The majority of youth employed at Urban Corps are high school drop outs who have little or no job training. At Urban Corps they learn new skills while contributing to the overall quality of life in the San Diego area. Their participation increases the connection these young people feel to their community, their environment, and their own future. When they care about all three, it benefits us all. Urban Corps is proud to have served more than 7,000 youth since 1989.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Urban Corps of San Diego is to provide job training and educational opportunities to young adults, in the fields of conservation, recycling, and community service which will assist these youths in becoming more employable, while protecting San Diego’s natural resources and instilling the importance of community involvement.
Corpsmembers are Stars of the Day at UCO Grand Opening
Mayor Jerry Sanders and County Supervisor Greg Cox declare Urban Corps Day in the City and County of San Diego
July 30, 2010 -- It was a monumental day at Urban Corps recently as over 250 community leaders and guests witnessed the ribbon cutting of the new green campus in the Midway area of San Diego. The grand opening celebrated the end of a 7-year journey ending in the debut of the first permanent home for the youth job training and education program. Both Mayor Jerry Sanders and County Supervisor Greg Cox declared it Urban Corps Day in the City and County of San Diego to mark the occasion.
Corpsmembers proved to be the stars of the days, hosting booths and taking visitors on guided tours of the campus. Corpsmember Manuel Henderson was trained in speech-craft and accepted SDG&E's Sustainable Champion Award on behalf of the organization. Finally, CEO Sam Duran introduced all the Corpsmembers who proudly marched into the arena to endless cheers and clapping in a moving show of impact by their sheer numbers. The new-and-improved campus includes two new soon-to-be-LEED certified buildings: the Recycling ECO Center and the solar-panel topped Community Room. Other popular green features of the Urban Corps campus are the Rooftop Garden and the 'green' vehicle wash which captures and filters water for reuse. SDG&E's Sustainable Experience kiosk also debuted at the event and showcased the site's green features.
URBAN CORPS TO PLANT 2,000 PUBLIC TREES IN SAN DIEGO IN 2010
Community Invited to Organize a Tree Planting in Exchange for Volunteer Maintenance
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| Click the image above to download and print the form
to request a FREE TREE in your public right-of-way. Simply fill out
the form and mail back to Urban Corps. |
Urban Corps will plant more than 2,000 trees in public spaces throughout the City of San Diego in 2010. San Diego residents are invited to request a “free tree” to be planted in a public-right-of-way, or organize a community-wide planting day, in exchange for signing a watering agreement as a promise of volunteer maintenance. “Thanks to funding from the City of San Diego Community Development Block Grant Funds (CDBG), we are able to plant nearly 500 street trees in all council districts,” says CEO Sam Duran. “There is a beautiful variety to choose from including Crape Myrtle, Hong Kong Orchid, and Jacaranda trees. We need citizens to step up and help coordinate tree plantings, as well as commit to help care for them.” Duran reports an additional 400 street trees may be planted in the designated Redevelopment Areas of City Heights, Barrio Logan, and San Ysidro in Council Districts 3 and 8 through grant funding from California ReLeaf. Many of these will be planted in coordination with the Green Street Community Enhancement Program, an Urban Corps partnership with the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Diego.
The planting of 57 more street trees by volunteers in low-income neighborhoods is being made possible by a grant from California ReLeaf. Urban Corps will also be planting trees where the 54 and 94 freeways intersect through a landscape architecture contract from CalTrans.Finally, an additional 1,000 trees will be planted through the United Voices for Healthier Communities “Healthy CommuniTrees Project” tree planting event to be held October 23, 2010. To find out if you are eligible for a free tree, or to schedule a community planting event, click on the "Free Tree" button to the left, print and mail your completed form to Urban Corps at P.O Box 80156 San Diego, CA 92138.
For more information call Ty Sterns at (619) 235-6884 ext. 3312 or email tsterns@urbancorps.org.