Community Engagement Events 

Watershed Community Engagement

Community engagement and volunteer events allow us to spread awareness of our watershed ecosystem – and the interconnectedness of creek and community health – throughout the West Contra Costa County community. Community engagement events revolve around the celebration of and care for the natural spaces in our community, and usually include some sort of physical activity. The goal is to care for our bodies, our local waterways, and our community, all at the same time. Events occur all over Richmond, typically on Saturday mornings, and are a great way for residents to get involved in this transformative work. Some recent highlights include our Halloween Trick or Treat hike at Wildcat Creek, Yoga at Pt. Molate, and our Spring Softball game and Creek cleanup. We also host major events for Earth Day (April) and Coastal Cleanup Day (September).

For information about community engagement events, or to get involved, please contact nathan@urbantilth.org

Wildcat Visioning Project

“I never knew the importance of Wildcat Creek and how it served my community, I just used to play in it as a kid.” – Courtney Moore, Watershed Program Coordinator 2017-2018

When Princess Robinson joined Urban Tilth’s Watersheds Training Program in 2015, she didn’t know what a life-changing experience it was going to be. Before joining, Princess defined herself as “a city girl who didn’t like nature.” Today she’s Urban Tilth’s Community Engagement Manager of the Basins of Relations Watersheds Program, a program that uses different strategies to hire, train, and employ local residents to improve watershed ecosystems while creating healthy safe spaces for outdoor recreation. Princess enjoys her work as an environmental steward, but not only that—she is now a community organizer. The turning point happened while she was working on various beautifully maintained creek trails in the San Francisco Bay Area. When she went back to her own community to work at Wildcat Creek in North Richmond, the only natural area in this city, she noticed that the trail left much to be desired. Princess rolled up her sleeves and now leads the Wildcat Visioning Project, a campaign to create awareness about the need to improve this trail.“Urban Tilth gave me a chance and I started learning, experiencing, getting to know my home in a different manner, and being put in positions that opened my horizons,” Princess says. In this video, she tells us about how she became a community leader and the vision of creating a healthy space at Wildcat Creek Trail in North Richmond.

What is the Wildcat Creek Visioning Project? 

Wildcat Creek runs from Tilden Park out to the San Francisco Bay. The stretch of Wildcat Creek that runs through North Richmond, known as Lower Wildcat Creek, runs from Verde Elementary to the Richmond Parkway. The riparian (creek-side) corridor of Lower Wildcat is managed by Contra Costa County Flood Control, and the adjacent Wildcat Creek Trail is managed by East Bay Regional Parks District. The Creek runs in front of Verde elementary, the only public school in North Richmond.
Lower Wildcat Creek runs through the heart of the North Richmond Community providing flood protect, water conveyance, habitat for local and migrating birds, recreational opportunity and natural beauty.
This visioning process will help improve Wildcat Creek and it’s Trail to benefit the community and help provide safe connections to the Bay shoreline & Bay trail.

Project Goals

  1. Gather community input on what would make Wildcat Creek Trail more inviting
  2. Improve community access to the SF Bay Shoreline and Bay Trails
  3. Improve recreational opportunities for North Richmond residents

Our primary goal was to secure input from 150 residents on how to improve Wildcat Creek Trail access and site amenities. We developed a paper and online survey to solicit feedback and poster boards to collect in person feedback to share and gather feedback at community meetings and while completing door-to-door canvassing (flyer).
Every resident is important to our community, and their input will help structure the future of our neighborhood and watershed.
WCVP FLYER (3)Take a look at potential pictures of what Wildcat Creek Trail could look like:

Potential lounging area for families attending Verde Elementary & local residents.
 

Potential overpass to connect Wildcat Creek Trail to Bay Shoreline.