SIERRA SERVICE PROJECT

Summer Program: In 2025, Sierra Service Project celebrated 50 years of service through the summer program, which provided service-learning experiences for 537 youth, young adult, and adult volunteers, and employed 13 young adult staff. Volunteer groups came from churches, schools, and family groups. In two partner communities overnight volunteers participated in week-long sessions building bridges between communities where they completed 39 community-based and home improvement projects to improve the safety and livability of homes for lower-income residents. In Del Norte County, volunteers and staff completed 10 home repair projects throughout the county including: four sets of stairs, two porches, three accessibility ramps, and one ramp repair. Volunteers also contributed to nine community-based projects: - 4 garden partners: Yurok Tribe's Food Sovereignty Program, Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation's Howonquet Head Start Food Forest, Del Norte & Tribal Lands Community Food Council (school gardens), & Family Resource Center of the Redwoods' K!ds Garden - 2 paint projects at the Crescent City UMC's parsonage & Del Norte County Fairgrounds (both host facilities) - 2 invasive species removal projects with the Tolowa Dunes Stewards during our 11th year of partnership! We moved to a new section of the dunes, completing restoration of one area. - Trail and overlook maintenance with Redwood Parks Conservancy In San Diego County, volunteers and staff completed three home repairs (in partnership with Hope Crisis Response Network's flood recovery work) and 17 community-based projects: - 7 projects with the City of National City: Neighborhood Services, Emergency Services, & the Public Library - 3 garden partners: Tijuana River Valley Community Garden, New Roots, & Friends of International Friendship Park's Resilience Satellite Community Garden - 3 invasive species removal projects with Silver Strand State Beach, Border Field State Park, & San Diego Canyonlands - 2 paint projects at National City FUMC (host facility) & Fire Station 34 - 17' eagle puppet creation with Bonita Museum artists for the International Day of Friendship - Food recovery with Porchlight Community Services

Workforce Development: In June 2023, we launched the Sacramento Sustainability Academy (SSA) a workforce development jobs program designed to provide young people with an introduction to climate action and community resilience work. Building on SSP's history of providing youth and young adults with hands-on experience with tools, home repairs, and high impact community projects, the Academy is focused on energy efficiency through the lens of building science, urban agriculture as a tool for achieving food security/sovereignty through permaculture design principles, and manufacturing design skills to provide young people high demand and cutting edge skills for high paying professions. All program fellows are required to reside within the city limits of Sacramento and meet additional requirements. Priority was given to individuals who have difficulty finding employment, are low-income, are unemployed and/or out of school, are or were justice-involved, are in or transitioning from foster care, or are engaged with the mental health or substance abuse system. We hosted two six-week cohorts in the summer and fall, funded by the City of Sacramento. They were paid above minimum wage to honor their time invested in learning and serving the community. In total, we had 12 workforce development fellows in 2025.