The San Diego Foundation

As part of its national Thrive Outside Community Initiative, the Outdoor Foundation has awarded a multi-year grant of $410,000 to The San Diego Foundation and a network of regional partners to support capacity building that will strengthen local partnerships, as well as create repeat and reinforcing positive outdoor experiences for youth and families.

“We didn’t become an indoor species overnight, and the decline of outdoor activity in the United States is a problem that requires collaboration, funding and scale,” explained Lise Aangeenbrug, Executive Director at Outdoor Foundation.

“With this grant, we are helping to fuel an outdoor movement in and around San Diego to bring back that connection by supporting local community partners to create a network focused on getting as many children and families as possible experiencing the outdoors in a positive way.”

As we know from the  Parks for Everyone report, San Diego County is rich with parks and green space, however not all San Diegans have equal access to the outdoors. Many of the region’s low-income, ethnically diverse communities are also those with the least amount of natural space. Over the past several years, The San Diego Foundation, through the Opening the Outdoors Program and its regional partners, has been working to address that.

The Thrive Outside San Diego Community initiative is led by The San Diego Foundation in partnership with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, County of San Diego Parks & Recreation Department, Outdoor Outreach, YMCA of San Diego County and The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego.

This article originally appeared on The San Diego Foundation website. To read the full article, please visit:

https://www.sdfoundation.org/news-events/sdf-news/san-diego-selected-thrive-outside-community/