Grantee: Outdoor Outreach
Project: Outdoor Outreach Youth Leadership Program
YCA Funded Project Cost: $300,000
Outdoor Outreach delivered a 2-year grant project that served approximately 58 youth in San Diego. The program served 5 cohorts of 12 youth (ages 16-24) each, providing 300 hours of nature-based job training per participant. Outdoor activities include swimming, snorkeling, bike riding, overnight surf camps, hiking, kayaking, and 5-day backpacking trips. These activities took place in natural resources areas such as Dixon Lake, Kendall Frost Marsh, Garnet Peak, Yosemite, Anza Borego State Park, Devil’s Postpile National Monument and Joshua Tree National Park. Programming included principals of leadership, teamwork, communication, environmental stewardship, decision making, outdoor living skills, and planning.
Program quote: “What I enjoyed about the leadership program was] being able to express my thoughts without being judged. Being able to go to beautiful places I never knew existed and I can go on my own time or family. Enjoyed trying to get out of my comfort zone and pushing myself to become better than what I was before.”
