VOC Stories: Literacy for Environmental Justice E 64

Episode 64: Literacy for Environmental Justice

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Literacy for Environmental Justice Programs - Eco Adventures, Eco Apprenticeships, Native Plant Nursery and Community Garden

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We talk about all the pollution and all the issues that surround the Bayview and all the history such as the shipyard and all the changes in land that has happened in the Southeast - Alex Velasco

In this episode our featured voices are Executive Director Justice Patrick Marley Rump, Senior Development Consultant LeeAndrea Morton, and Community Program Coordinator Alex Velasco of Literacy for Environmental Justice.

The focus of this week’s show is on how the covid-19 pandemic is impacting our youth and the nonprofit organizations that provide support services to help youth through this crisis. We wanted to feature the work of Literacy for Environmental Justice because of their unique and integrated effort of supporting youth in our community through utilizing environmental education, leadership and skills training, and the incubation and placement of native plants into our urban environment

Patrick Marley Rump

Patrick Marley Rump (Executive Director) Patrick has served as LEJ’s Executive Director for nearly five years but has been with the organization for 18 years and has served in many roles and is deeply passionate about their core mission and focus. He was instrumental in securing grants and managing the multi-year development of the award-winning, LEED Platinum, Heron’s Head Park Eco-center, also in Bayview Hunters Point. He was also the program manager for LEJ’s Heron’s Head Park Program, the Bay Youth for the Environment Program, and the Native Plant Nursery at the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, forging new and now enduring strategic partnerships. Patrick is still very hands-on with all LEJ programs and will serve as the project manager for this project working closely with project staff to implement all field programs and assist with field leadership and team mentoring.

Alex Velasco

Alex Velasco is the Community Programs Coordinator. Alex is a former community resident, spending his high school years in Bayview Hunters Point. Alex first joined LEJ through the high school Eco-Apprentice 2018 fall program and stayed for the 2019 spring program. He was hired as an adult Eco-Apprentice the following fall after he graduated from high school and now works as the Eco-Apprentice Program Coordinator for LEJ. Alex also has previous experience in housing construction. He is a current student at City College of San Francisco and his career goals are to work in the environmental field and help support and uplift other youth to take charge against environmental racism. Alex likes working at LEJ because he enjoys working with plants and people, it has taught him more about his surrounding neighborhood, and because it has empowered him to be educated and share on the environmental issues faced by his community.

LeeAndrea

LeeAndrea Morton is the Senior Development Consultant at LEJ. She began in the organization as an Eco-Apprentice, working 2 days per week raising native plants in the nursery during 2019. LeeAndrea spent 4 years with another San Francisco community-based non-profit before LEJ, the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, working in youth programs and development. In 2014, she hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and realized the widespread need for environmental restoration and nature-connection. She believes that as we work together to heal the earth, we also heal our human hearts.

Literacy for Environmental Justice

Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ) is a non-profit youth development organization in Bayview Hunters Point that works to address environmental justice issues in San Francisco with two native plant nurseries, ecological restoration projects, youth outdoor education, and green job training.

Their neighborhood's mix of industrial and residential zoning and geographic location results in poor air quality & high particulate matter concentrations, exposure to radiation and hazardous waste, difficulty accessing open space, and flooding issues amplified by climate change and sea-level rise.

LEJ’s priority is to empower young environmental leaders and to care for open spaces. They do this by 1) providing free environmental education programs for low-income youth that focus on hands-on environmental stewardship and recreation, such as kayaking, hiking, and camping; 2) operating two native plant nurseries that grow thousands of native plants per year used for habitat restoration; and 3) running a multi-track, year-round internship program designed to get young, diverse leaders into ‘green’ careers. The 2018 San Francisco Biodiversity Initiative named LEJ a leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion in the environmental field.

Since the onset of COVID, LEJ has held to its mission of serving local, San Francisco youth. The Eco-Apprentice program was deemed an essential service by the City, for work in ecosystem restoration. Our eight (8) Eco-Apprentices are local, low-income young adults (approximately 18-25 years old). In normal years, Eco-Apprentices run ecological restoration activities and youth programs. This year, they have focused entirely on restoration work, as youth programs were not safe to operate.

Eco-Apprentices normally facilitate over 2,000 youth and volunteers in stewardship and environmental education programs each year, which contributes greatly to our ability to grow native plants and perform park stewardship. This year, Eco-Apprentices have completed 100% of the native plant nursery and park stewardship work, achieving the same targets that were in place last year with the help of youth and volunteers. Eco-Apprentices began facilitating Covid-safe youth community kayaking events in March 2021. They are planning to host 1-2 kayaking events per month, as long as it is Covid-safe until the pandemic subsides.

In two decades of work in the Bayview community, LEJ has restored over 100 acres of public, urban open space with over 250,000 newly planted native plants. Currently, there are about 450 San Francisco native species still intact, of which LEJ grows about 200 species. LEJ’s community-based restoration has led to the resurgence of several rare, threatened, & endangered species, including the Clapper Rail, Burrowing Owl, Western Meadowlark, Western Pigmy Butterfly, Pacific Ring-Neck Snake, Chorus Frog, Long-Tailed Jack Rabbit, and more. As California and San Francisco have rolled out their biodiversity initiatives, LEJ is poised to lead even larger-scale restoration and green infrastructure installation in these urban areas.

In March 2021, LEJ broke ground to double the size of their native plant nursery and community garden. This will allow LEJ to hire and train more young environmental leaders and to amplify the ecological restoration work they do in Bayview Hunters Point and Southeast San Francisco. LEJ has already raised over $1.2 million dollars and only need $150,000 more to bring this project to completion by the summer of 2021. You can LEJ expand its impact by donating here: lejyouth.networkforgood.com/

Check out LEJ’s website (www.lejyouth.org/) for volunteer opportunities and other ways to connect with the organization. Link(s) to Literacy for Environmental Justice programs, services that folks can participate in, such as donate, volunteer etc

Upcoming events: https://www.lejyouth.org/index.php/upcoming-events/

You can follow LEJ on both Instagram: @lej_ecostewards and Facebook: @LEJyouth

Donation/Volunteer

A donation to LEJ is an investment in a healthy and just future for Southeast San Francisco. Donations from supporters like you, combined with grants from foundations and government agencies help cover all elements of our work. Donate: https://lejyouth.networkforgood.com/

Volunteers make a tangible and lasting impact on the land and community. Your support is critical to advancing ecological restoration and community development. Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ) has three standing volunteer events that happen each month. Additionally, we host volunteer service programs for your school, company, church group and more! To schedule a service event, please contact Alex Velasco at alex.velasco@lejyouth.org. Learn more about our standing volunteer opportunities below. We have an active calendar of all upcoming volunteer events and other community activities that you can view here.

Videos

To learn more about LEJ's Eco-Apprentices, check out “Literacy for Environmental Justice: Cultivating Youth Leaders in Southeast San Francisco” from Kristin Tieche and find out more about the history of LEJ through enjoying the 20th Anniversary

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