DEPARTMENT: Parks and Recreation
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Xavier D. Urrutia
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City wide
SUBJECT:
Acceptance of Grant from National League of Cities and Cities Connecting Children & Nature
SUMMARY:
This ordinance ratifies the submission of a grant application and authorizes the acceptance of grant funds in an amount not to exceed $75,000.00 from the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families and the Children & Nature Network (NLC) as part of the Cities Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN) initiative. The term of the grant will begin March 2018 through October 2020. This ordinance also authorizes the Parks and Recreation Director to execute any and all related documents.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The NLC released a special call for applications for their CCCN grant which is geared toward an equity-based approach to connecting children with the natural world. The CCCN grant program is designed to help support cities across the country develop planning strategies and pursue projects that create equitable access and connections between children and nature in urban areas. In March 2018, San Antonio was selected along with Atlanta, Baltimore, Gary Indiana, Houston, and St. Louis as grant recipients.
During an intensive eight-month CCCN planning phase, grant funds would be used toward community assessment, planning, and the development of an implementation plan designed to encourage the City of San Antonio to pursue projects that create equitable access and connections between children and nature in urban areas. To achieve this, a core team consisting of City staff and community partners will interact with CCCN project staff to establish baselines of community engagement, map existing citywide systems, identify priority populations and analyze assets, gaps, barriers, and opportunities. The planning phase will focus on data discovery as related to identifying possible target areas that can be addressed in ...
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