Past Grantees: 2015, Cycle 1

The California Urban Streams Partnership (CUSP) is an organization of local, regional and statewide groups working together to protect, restore, and steward urban streams and watersheds in California. CUSP advocates for the improvement of wildlife habitat, the return of functioning ecosystems, and the betterment of urban environments and quality of life. The Schwemm Foundation provided funding for two workshops to teach homeowners and city staff in the San Francisco area communities of Richmond and Oakland how to incorporate soil bioengineering to stop streamside erosion, reduce flooding potential and enhance steelhead habitat on urban streams in those cities. The workshops included approximately 40 people and trained several environmental interns. They also recruited members of the Green Collar Corps – a group that exposes disadvantaged community members to environmental careers – to help facilitate the trainings. CUSP was able to leverage the grant from the Schwemm Family Foundation with other funding sources to purchase tools and supplies needed to conduct the workshops. http://www.earthisland.org/cusp/index.html

In 2015 the Family Nurturing Center received a grant in the amount of $5,000 from the Schwemm Family Foundation.  The grant award has helped the Center provide hands-on gardening experiences, fresh produce, and cooking skills to residents that are participating in the organization’s Farm and Food Program.  This program has partnered with the  On Track program to help parents work through drug and alcohol addiction issues so they can be reunited with their children. 

The Watershed Project is a non-profit organization based in Richmond, California that focuses on the well-being and connectivity of watersheds as well as the people who live within them. One of their projects works with neighbors and other volunteers to construct a series of rain gardens along the Richmond Greenway adjacent to the San Francisco Bay. The Watershed Project received a grant from the Schwemm Family Foundation in 2015 to support the construction of one of these rain gardens and completed the work this fall.