Members of the community gather to listen to local dignitaries at the groundbreaking of the spacious area that will become Carmichael’s newest park, Jan Park. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Tom Paniagua

When completed, the 13.6-acre park site between Jan Drive and Salmaan Ave. will include walking trails, an adventure playground, family picnic sites, and a half-acre turf play area. Still, the goal is to retain the natural feel of the park site and its surroundings, which include Blue Oaks, Valley Oaks and Interior Live Oaks that are designated as Heritage Oaks by the Sacramento Tree Foundation.

“We’re going to be keeping it much like it is,” said Carmichael Recreation and Park District (CRPD) Administrator Jack Harrison. “That’s what the people really wanted, and that site really lends itself to a design that emphasizes its natural state.”

Picnic tables will be positioned strategically in the park to allow visitors to enjoy the shade from nearby oaks, and a series of walking trails, including one ADA-compliant trail, will transect the site.

Installing benches and picnic tables would be impossible without the help of the members of the Jan Drive Neighborhood Park Committee; Harrison said the organization plans to donate at least $25,000 for the park’s development. Residents living near the park site formed the group a few years ago with the goal of “preserving and maintaining Jan Drive Park’s unique character by maintaining it as natural open space,” according to the group’s website, www.savejanpark.com.

Committee members, Harrison said, also provided crucial input when the CRPD was debating Jan Park’s future. The district at one point considered selling part of the park site, intending to use land sale proceeds to fund development of a smaller version of Jan Park.

“The neighbors made it clear they wanted to keep the entire site, and we came up with a revised master plan that eliminated the land sale portion,” explained Harrison. “They stepped up and immediately starting raising quite a bit of money.”

The funds neighbors have raised ultimately will help put benches and picnic tables in the park, and the rest of the park’s development will be funded by a $410,000 grant the CRPD received from the state via Proposition 84, approved by voters in 2006. CRPD was the only local park district in California to receive Prop. 84 funds, Harrison noted.

“Fifty-eight local park and rec districts applied for Prop. 84 grants and we were the only park district in California to get funds,” he said. “The rest of the funds went to

Holding traditional shovels spray painted gold for luck, local dignitaries and community representatives broke ground for Jan Park on Saturday, May 21. The new park will be completed this summer. A grand opening is slated for Sept. 17. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Tom Paniagua

cities and counties.”

Construction work at the site is scheduled over the summer, and due to the limited scope of development, Harrison said he expects the work to advance quickly; the park’s scheduled opening day is Saturday, Sept. 17. When it opens, Jan Park is expected to serve about 2,000 residents living within a half-mile radius of the site.

SACRAMENTO – Mutual Housing Association recently received more than $5 million in grants and loans to make improvements and increase energy efficiency at four local multi-family developments.

“These funds help us continue the improvements that Mutual Housing is known for bringing not only to its own communities, but also to the neighborhoods they are part of,” said Rachel Iskow, Mutual Housing executive director. “The renovation work will ensure that our communities remain safe and well-preserved for decades to come.”

Construction will begin in October at Glen Ellen Estates, Foothill Plaza and Mutual Housing at Norwood in Sacramento. Construction is expected to start in November at Twin Pines in Davis.

Glen Ellen Estates refinanced an existing loan and received loans of $321,000 from Northern California Community Loan Fund and $238,200 from NeighborWorks America for improvements at the 36-unit community that will include new dual pane low e-windows, replacement of exterior decks, paving and parking lot as well as interior apartment improvements.

“Because our communities were built prior to the latest in energy-efficient and green building materials, Mutual Housing has spent the past few years building our knowledge base in order to implement the most current technology,” Iskow said.

Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Foothill Plaza in North Sacramento received approximately $1.5 million in a grant from the Department of Housing & Urban Development’s Green Retrofit Program to increase energy efficiency. The upgrades at the 98-unit complex will include new building insulation and recycled-content siding, Energy Star cool roofs as well as property-wide, solar hot-water heaters to reduce reliance on gas.

Mutual Housing at Norwood received $3 million in loans from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. With the funding, the association will replace roofs, gutters and downspouts, repair and replace parking areas and driveways, install security systems and cameras as well as improve stucco siding and paint. Interiors also will be upgraded.

In addition, walkways, ramps and parking areas at the Norwood complex will be made accessible to people with disabilities at the 87-unit development.

Davis’ Twin Pines received a $155,000 grant from NeighborWorks America and a $100,000 from the City of Davis Housing Trust Funds for new paint, awnings and iron fencing as well as improvements to the community center and the community garden at the 36-unit property.

With 15 communities in the region, Mutual Housing develops and operates well-designed, affordable rental housing to the 2,600 residents, half of whom are children. Through Mutual Housing’s focus on leadership, the nonprofit also provides training and mentoring as well as educational programs, community-building activities and services for residents and neighbors. For more information, visit www.mutualhousing.com.

Youngsters will continue to have the opportunity to play soccer with the Greenhaven Soccer Club, thanks to a $10,000 grant from Councilmember Robbie Waters. The councilmember presented a check to some of the youth and Shane Singh, president of the Greenhaven Soccer Club. / Photo courtesy of Greenhaven Soccer Club

Greenhaven Soccer received a grant for $10,000 from Councilmember Robbie Waters. The councilmember donated the funds from his City Council discretionary funds.

“This donation is the largest that our club has ever received,” said Shane Singh, president of the Greenhaven Soccer Club in an email to youth team members and their families.

The contribution is significant, according to Singh, because the popular youth soccer club incurs great expenses in order to play. City fields in public parks have to be rented, and the park use fees are considerable.

“The donation will allow us to defray some of those charges,” Singh said. “It will also allow us to continue with some of our programs, including the free summer camp and training sessions for our players/coaches. We are very grateful to Robbie Waters for this extraordinary and generous gift.”

Liz Stenstrom, President, Assistance League of Sacramento, announced, “The Yocha Dehe Community Fund awarded a $15,000 grant to help fund our highly successful Operation School Bell Program in the greater Sacramento and Yolo County areas.”

The Assistance League of Sacramento has received a generous grant from the Yocha Deha Community Fund. Left to right, Lynn Duffel, past president, Assistance League of Sacramento; Kristine L. Stanfill, director of Yocha Dehe Community Fund, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation; and Charlotte Stott, president-elect, Assistance League of Sacramento. / Photo courtesy

Presenting the grant on behalf of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation was Kristine L. Stanfill, director, Yocha Dehe Community Fund.

“Established in 1995, Operation School Bell is one of nine philanthropic programs provided by Assistance League of Sacramento,” Stenstrom said.

The program outfits K-6 elementary school children with school uniforms or clothes, shoes, backpacks, socks, underwear and hygiene kits. Additionally, the literacy component encourages pleasure reading and family literacy through books provided to the classroom, which are taken home for the whole family to enjoy.

“In the last 15 years, the chapter has clothed more than 25,000 children,” Stenstrom said. “We value our affiliation with the Yocha Dehe Community Fund because they allow us to increase our assistance to children in great need.”

Over the past decade, the Yocha Dehe Community Fund has provided nearly $18 million in financial support to nonprofit organizations and service providers in Sacramento and Yolo Counties, and other organizations supporting the Fund’s goals in education, community health, arts and culture, the environment, community development and social services. 

“Over the past five years the Yocha Dehe Community Fund has contributed $70,000 to Assistance League of Sacramento’s Operation School Bell Program,” Stenstrom said.

Assistance League of Sacramento is an all-volunteer community service organization chartered in 1968. It is one of 122 chapters of Assistance League nationally. Assistance League of Sacramento has served the community for over 42 years by meeting the changing needs of children, seniors, families, and women. The chapter has over 230 volunteer members who have offered countless hours, touching hundreds of thousands of lives in the greater Sacramento area. For additional information, access the web site:  sacramento.assistanceleague.org, contact alsacmail@gmail.com or the Assistance League of Sacramento Facebook page. The office is located at 2528 Yorktown Avenue, Suite C, Sacramento, CA 95821, (916) 488-0828.

City of Sacramento Councilmember Sandy Sheedy invites the public to the grand re-opening of Jack Rea Park on Saturday, Oct. 23 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. A dedication will be held at 1:30 p.m.

Rea Park in North Sacramento bears the name of the late Police Officer Francis “Jack” Rea, who served his community well until his untimely death in the line of duty in 1954.

The Jack Rea Park was transformed from a small, sterile grassy area into a children’s colorful bug themed playground with lady bug sculpture, and other bug spring riders, and a vivid butterfly shaped shade canopy.

The park includes a butterfly garden with a butterfly medallion centerpiece and educational interpretive panels, and is planted with low water-use flowering perennials, shrubs, ornamental grasses and flowering trees which attract butterflies. In addition to durable picnic tables, benches, and park signs, there is a memorial dedication plaque to Officer Jack Rea.

The park’s makeover was made possible by funds from SHRA and a grant from First 5.

Jack Rea Park is located at 355 Redwood Avenue, corner of El Camino and Grove, in Sacramento.

SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento Tree Foundation is encouraging civic, service and nonprofit organizations to apply for the Citizen Advisory Tree Committee’s (CATC) grant for fall, winter and spring tree plantings. This competitive mini-grant program awards between $1,000 and $15,000 to support qualified tree planting projects on publicly owned property. The goal of this grant program is to increase urban forest awareness and action within the six-county region, including the counties of Yuba, Yolo, El Dorado, Sutter, Sacramento and Placer. Qualifying planting areas include, but may not be limited to: parks, school grounds, public buildings, public cemeteries, public lands and trails.

The most competitive applications will include a tree planting project, foster community awareness and education; leverage resources ,include community partnerships; clearly explain why the applicant is best suited to succeed with the proposed project; and provide a reasonable project scope and budget.

Applications for CATC funds must be completed and submitted by November 1, 2010 in order to be eligible for review. This unique funding is made possible by a grant from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE). Applications can be found online at the Sacramento Tree Foundation (www.sactree.com) or by contacting supportus@sactree.com.

Sacramento State’s efforts to help meet California’s urgent need for highly skilled registered nurses will get a significant boost, courtesy of a $500,000 grant from the Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation, Inc. The gift from the Nevada-based foundation will equip and furnish a clinical simulation lab in the Division of Nursing’s new facilities in Folsom Hall, the former CalSTRS building.

A gift from the Nevada-based Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation, Inc. will equip and furnish a clinical simulation lab in the Division of Nursing’s new facilities in Folsom Hall, the former CalSTRS building. (Photo courtesy)

“We are committed to helping create an outstanding educational environment for Sac State’s nursing students,” said George Crandell, chair of the University Foundation board.  “At some point, a nurse will touch your life. You will want that nurse to have the best training possible.”    

“This generous gift from the Doyle Foundation, combined with the matching commitment of the University Foundation, will allow us to make significant strides in the university’s efforts to provide the state with the well-prepared nursing graduates it needs,” said Carole Hayashino, vice president for University Advancement. “It is an example of the type of community support for enhancing our academic programs that forms the foundation of our Destination 2010 initiative to make Sacramento State a premier metropolitan university.”

The new simulation lab will play a key role in the nursing program’s ability to expand both the number of nursing students and the preparation they receive. The lab will feature state-of-the-art human patient simulators-mannequins that mimic the symptoms and mannerisms of live patients, including a mother giving birth. These life-size “patients” will enable students to practice techniques and processes they’ve learned in the classroom in a hospital-type environment, complete with hospital beds and bed-side monitoring equipment.

While the university has been using simulated patients on a limited basis, the new lab will improve access and bring the clinical process to play in all types of coursework. “Simulation will give us the ability, in every class, to employ the clinical environment without relying on our fellow agencies to provide services, which are in short supply,” said Ann Stoltz, professor and chair of the Division of Nursing.

Stoltz says the high-level lab will also ensure the each student gets equal opportunities to put their training in practice by responding to similar scenarios.

“We can standardize the learning experience. We can make sure each student experiences the same situations, which you can’t do in a clinical setting,” she said.

The lab will also be available as a resource to other agencies who don’t have their own simulation equipment and as a possible training resource for first-responders to address organ and tissue donation scenarios at accident sites. At a future date, it also may be used to help students meet State of California Board of Nursing requirements for clinical hours.

In addition to the simulation lab, the Division of Nursing’s new facility will have classroom and office space as well as standard skills labs. Stoltz says the Division of Nursing, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, could be physically equipped to expand its student base by Fall 2011, depending on the status of the university’s budget.

The Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation, Inc. has a history of supporting nursing education programs in California as well as scholarships for students from northern Nevada and southern California. In awarding the gift to Sacramento State, the Doyle Foundation praised Sacramento State for its “dedication to the life-altering potential of learning that balances a liberal arts education with depth of knowledge in a discipline.”

For more information, contact the Sacramento State Development Office at (916) 278-6989.