WEST OAKLAND YOUTH STANDING EMPOWERED (WYSE)
"As a West Oakland youth and resident I hope one day to see young children with families out to play at their local park where it’s safe and clean. A young female teenager walking to school on wide sidewalks with enough space for her and a person in a wheel chair to pass on by and beautiful assortments of greenery trailing along side of them, A mother walking just around the corner to purchase fresh pesticide free produce from local farmers, trash cans on every corner, visible crosswalks equipped with stop sighs. I envision a West Oakland were city safety is not enforced through a black and white cruisers coasting up and down the block and stationed at high schools fully armed. A West Oakland where new jobs are being made available everyday because we support eager minds and willful souls of potential entrepreneurs, Education accessible and tangible to all, Schools equipped with sufficient supplies and skillful kind hearted teachers. I envision West Oakland to have a mayor that is truly available and visible in the community, city staff fulfilling their full potential serving the community, a cut back of black hole city services, a decline in condos and gentrification, a rise in mom and pop businesses and more community events turning neighbors into friends."
WYSE is an afterschool program with a mission to teach leadership skills to youth and young adults.WYSE’s goal to advocate for healthy communities focuses on the built environment and food security through projects: Healthy Neighborhood Stores Alliance, WYSE Streets, and Burbank Garden. Based on over 100 surveys assessing community walkability (safe, passable sidewalks and streets) in West Oakland, WYSE upgraded a neighborhood park across from McClymonds High School, got more than 10 bus benches installed, sidewalks repaired along San Pablo, cross walks repaired and installed along 7th street, and a traffic light to be investigated on 34th and San Pablo.
In partnership with Alameda County Public Health for a CalTrans Environmental Justice Transportation Planning grant, WYSE collected over 300 surveys about transportation issues in West Oakland. They joined alliances with Urban Habitat to advocate and pass Measure VV to keep fair fares for AC Transit riders.
WYSE partnerships include: East Bay Conservation Corps, Urban Habitat, Alameda County Public Health Department, Backyard Food Project, Indigenous-Permaculture, Common Vision, Community Services Unlimited, Explore Prep Middle School, HEAC - Accelerated School, City of Oakland - Public Works.
BURBANK GARDEN
The Burbank Elementary School Garden was developed by the East Bay Conservation Corps through 2003 Community Development Block Grant funds and was due to receive a major grant from the Trust for Public Land. It was abandoned when Oakland Unified School District closed the school the following year. In 2004, the Oakland Small School Foundation opened Explore College Preparatory Middle School in the abandoned Burbank Elementary School building. Explore now serves over 300 students in grades six through eight and features a rigorous academic program combined with extended day, instrumental music, and family and community engagement as essential aspects of student life. Outside their windows, the Burbank Garden also struggles to thrive.
With the support from Backyard Food Project WYSE is in the process of growing an educational garden. On April 13, 2009 Common Vision, Backyard Food Project, Students from Explore Prep Middle School and WYSE planted over 30 fruit trees. The garden will be incorperated into the school's science class curriculam and after school program.
"A few months ago, we met a man by the name of Bill Richie who had been left in charge of the sprawling Burbank Garden. Bill offered WYSE the opportunity to revitalize the garden and reconnect the school and community to the garden. Since WYSE was created from the knowledge we gained from Cx3 about improvements to the built environment and food security, we gladly took up the opportunity to serve our neighbors. Our goal is to renovate the garden and grow pesticide-free produce there. The ultimate plan is to organize the community around self-sustainability by growing food locally with their own resources and those available through MMPlace. In the process of doing so, we would like to invite experienced farmers to help us in creating the layout for the garden. We also plan to bring the Explore students, along with other community and youth based groups into the garden to learn about the importance of soil, drip irrigation and organic growing techniques, and to incorporate Native American concepts of companion planting of squash, maize and beans, the Three Sisters, into the garden. With obesity on the rise and more junk food surrounding us daily it is important to have access to healthy options. As the project moves forward we plan to get residents of the surrounding community involved in the process, allowing them to learn and take responsibility for what they eat and how it’s grown. It is important that they be part of creating something healthy and grand to share. Knowing how to grow food in an urban environment like Oakland is something that we should all be allowed to learn."
CX3 -- Go to video
Communities of Excellence in Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity Prevention (CX3). MMPlace was the community partner with Alameda County Public Health Department as one of 6 pilot counties in conducting tools testing and data collection for the Statewide Communities of Excellence program. Our teams of 10 adult and 7 youth residents surveyed stores, assessed advertising and fast food within 1000 feet of schools and rated community walkability. Data collected informed the current work of the West Oakland youth team, and HNSA project. The CX3 program has since been expanded statewide.
WYSE STREETS
The goal of WYSE Streets is for youth to be the voice of the community and respond to West Oakland residents' concerns stated in the WYSE Streets Surveys. In this, the youth not only take action for their community and create positive change, but they also develop leadership skills to assist them in becoming fearless when facing challenging odds.
Thus far, the youth took leadership in gathering 300 surveys from West Oakland residents pertaining to public transportation, coordinating and gathering petitions at the West Oakland and Macarthur BART stations, petitioned at bus stops. The results? They got more than 10 bus benches installed in West Oakland, sidewalks repaired along San Pablo Ave., cross walks repaired and installed along 7th street, one public trashcan installed on San Pablo Ave., and one traffic light to be investigated on 34th and San Pablo. They also joined alliances with Urban Habitat advocating & passing measure VV to keep fair fares for AC Transit riders.
We were able to get support from Trina Barton with the mayor’s office, Anaa Reese from Public Health and Lindsay Imai from Urban Habitat who supported us by calling contacts, connecting us with useful resources and whatever else we needed help with. We are still in contact with Urban Habitat and Anaa Reese from Public Health who are still assisting and supporting our efforts for a positive change in our community through the strong best hands in the community, the youth.
In 2008, WYSE gave presentations at Network of Healthy California Annual Conference, WOPAC Trees and Transportation Committee Meeting, and American Planning Association in Hollywood.