This grant—and great project—would have probably been better directed to the parents of the homeless children, as getting the homeless involved in cleaning up public space has proven to be a valuable tool for getting people out of homelessness and into a more productive life, as we noted in our policy suggestion in our 2005 research report, The American River Parkway Lower Reach Area: A Corroded Crown Jewel; Restoring the Luster, A Conceptual and Policy Primer (pp. 34-36)
An excerpt from the Sacramento Bee article.
“Not long ago, they were homeless, though they don't much like to talk about that.
“Now a group of young people who live with their families at Serna Village – a housing program at McClellan Park – have decided to help spruce up the American River Parkway.
“Their first step was simply to pick up trash along a one-mile stretch of the river.
“Then they received an $8,000 grant from the parkway foundation to build a family-friendly picnic site at Tiscornia Park, a county park across the Jibboom Street Bridge from Discovery Park.
“Working with the county's Regional Parks Department and Teichert Construction, they plan to pour cement slabs, build wheelchair-accessible walkways and install a picnic table and ash pit. The project is scheduled to be finished in November.”
