Project Title: Music in their Hearts, Instruments in their Hands

MusicLandria launched in 2014 as a music instrument library where anyone can check out instruments as one would check out books in a traditional library. MusicLandria has served over 20,000 people and lent over 28,000 musical instruments.

MusicLandria’s programs benefit low-income families, seniors, at-risk youth, youth experiencing homelessness, foster youth, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities with an emphasis on underserved communities. Roughly 40% of users are people of color. Over 30% have a household annual income of less than $25,000. Participants include aspiring musicians trying out their very first instrument to local bands, parents, youth and local
schools.

The Music Instrument Locker provides free access to musical instruments and equipment through a “Take What You Need, Leave What You Can” model. Rather than price tags, users are encouraged to give what they can. For some, this means leaving equipment they no longer need. For others, this means financial donations, volunteering time, or offering expertise. This year, MusicLandria has re-homed over 300 instruments and served over 150 people.

The Musician’s MakerSpace provides free on-site access to top-of-the-line music equipment and offers mentorship, paid residencies, practice space, audio and video recording services and an all-ages music venue. Through this program, local musicians have recorded over 2,000 songs and produced nearly 600 music videos and over 15,000 people have been hosted through concerts, festivals, meetups and club meetings.

Impact100’s grant allows MusicLandria to secure a permanent space and increase weekly service hours by 50%, public and corporate support by 20%, and instrument donations by 30%. Funding also allows MusicLandria to acquire a more diverse range of instruments and reach more individuals in need. Larger space means expansion of the free Music Instrument Locker and Musician’s MakerSpace and supports MusicLandria’s mission to empower individuals to explore their musical passions, regardless of financial barriers.

Project Title: Teen Empowerment Program

Soil Born Farms’ permanently-protected 55-acre urban farm and education center is located within the American River Parkway, and serves as a legacy resource for our Sacramento community. Funding from Impact100 will bring Soil Born Farms’ Teen Empowerment Program to fruition, engaging 400+ underserved urban teens in meaningful experiential education, career exploration and job training. This program brings teens into the core of Soil Born Farms’ work, aimed at empowering over 30,000 residents each year to learn, grow, eat and connect.

The Teen Empowerment Program is focused on unlocking teens’ capabilities, challenging them to learn and grow, and engaging them in the creation of a resilient, healthy, and sustainable Sacramento food system. They will be key contributors in using climate-smart agriculture to produce food for our community and school cafeterias, stewarding the farm’s diverse ecosystems, creating healthy prepared meals, and educating younger children.

The Teen Empowerment Program is a capstone experience in Soil Born’s K-12 career pathway in food, health and the environment for the Sacramento region. Youth come from throughout the county, with a focus on students of low-income Title 1 schools. Many teens served are students of the Agriculture and Culinary Academies at Cordova High School, located adjacent to Soil Born Farms. Cordova High School has a rich diversity of ethnicities, with 70% of students from communities of color. Within the neighborhood, 75% of students at local schools qualify for reduced-price meals, and many families have more access to fast food and liquor stores than healthy food options.

As a result of world-class learning experiences at Soil Born Farms, teens will gain the skills to lead healthy and productive lives and will be primed to become leaders in the fields of food, agriculture, health and environmental stewardship – all vital to the Sacramento economy and community.

Project Title: Positive Spin Bicycle Collective

Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates is collaborating with two other nonprofits to create Positive Spin, a youth-led community bike shop that will teach young people bicycle mechanics and repair, and business skills. Many low-income residents rely on bicycles to get to their job or school. A reason people don’t ride their bikes more often is because they don’t know how to fix them. Learning how to repair bicycles is a skillset in demand at bike shops nationwide and useful in places where a bike shop doesn’t currently exist. E-bikes are the fastest growing sector of the bicycle industry yet are too expensive for many. Retrofitting lightly used analog bikes with e-bike kits can put more e-bikes into the hands of people who most need them for transportation.

SABA is partnering with Community Shop Class (CSC) and Sierra Service Project (SSP). CSC is located on Stockton Blvd and works with neurodivergent youth who don’t always excel in traditional learning settings; instead, they thrive in experiential settings working with their hands and learning by doing. SSP teaches manufacturing and safe tool use so youth can gain necessary workforce skills. CSC and SSP currently run classes on building tiny homes, community gardens and food trucks. SABA is partnering with them to establish Positive Spin, enabling youth to build sustainable transportation and support others.

Impact100 funding helps SABA redesign existing space and expand into an additional 1,000 sq/ft area attached to CSC’s shop and access to a large backyard where students can work on projects while learning workforce development skills. Stockton Boulevard is a top Vision Zero High Injury corridor in the city and the Stockton Corridor Plan envisions 4 miles of new and improved bike access along the Boulevard. A bicycle collective in the area will serve the current community and future residents.

Project Title: UCP Saddle Pals

UCP programs help clients and their families to live a life with increased independence, productivity, and self-confidence. UCP ensures that clients of all ages and income levels can learn new skills. Because of UCP, many clients feel more connected to the community, have increased confidence, and experience more independence. Each month, UCP serves nearly 3,100 individuals with autism (48%), intellectual delay (25%), Down syndrome and/or epilepsy (17%), and cerebral palsy (10%). UCP provides 14 programs through four divisions – Family Respite, Transportation, Adult Programs, and Recreation.

UCP’s Saddle Pals program is an equine therapy program where children and adults with developmental disabilities learn to care for and ride horses. Participants build confidence and abilities while learning how to interact with horses and learn the basics of horseback riding over an eight-week program. They increase their riding capabilities on the Saddle Pals Sensory Trail where they perform structured tasks that will help with coordination and motor skills. This provides a multi-dimensional challenge in an environment outside of their familiar ones.

UCP Saddle Pals was a long-standing program prior to the mandated COVID lockdowns and in 2020 was shut down for the safety of clients, sta[, and volunteers. The shut-down has allowed UCP to redesign and relaunch the program in a more convenient location. Impact100 dollars will fund site upgrades and preparation such as grading, fencing, ADA bathrooms, and classroom space. Additional work is required such as recruiting and training new sta[ and volunteers, securing horses, and community promotion.

UCP is moving UCP Saddle Pals to the Sacramento Horseman’s Association (SHA). SHA has welcomed UCP and provides space to host programming and collaborates on fundraising for site improvements. The tenants at SHA are excited for the partnership with many already raising their hands to volunteer and allow UCP to use their horses.

Project Title: The (real) Talk: How to Start the Right Conversations with Your Kids & Keep Having
Them

One in four girls and one in six boys will be a victim of sexual violence before they graduate high school. Once they leave home, risks of sexual violence increase even more: college women are at three times greater risk for sexual violence and women not in college experience a four times greater risk for sexual violence. Violence against LGBTQ+ youth is at even higher rates and in one study, 81% of transgender youth reported experiencing sexual violence. And with more relationships beginning virtually and through apps, youth are left trying to navigate even greater risks from online predators.

Victims are harmed in the places where they should be safe – at school, in their neighborhoods and in their homes. Dating and sexual violence is preventable, and parents are well positioned to be their children’s best and most consistent teachers. When it comes to the subject of healthy relationships, parents are often ill-equipped. Barriers include their own history of domestic and sexual violence, limited experience identifying healthy vs unhealthy relationships, discomfort with discussing sensitive topics and a lack of information about prevention strategies.

With Impact100’s support, WEAVE will create a toolkit of robust resources designed for parents/caregivers and young people. This toolkit will include content designed to stimulate an ongoing conversation that is age and developmentally appropriate, responds to the different lived experiences of families in our region, responds to cultural differences, and respects the vast range of identities and relationships of parents/caregivers and their children.

WEAVE’s mission is to promote safe and healthy relationships and support survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and sex trafficking. WEAVE trains over 8,000 youth and 12,000 adults through prevention programs annually and is well positioned to lead in developing the toolkit. WEAVE will leverage Impact100 funding to complete the toolkit, estimated to cost $156,000.

Project Title: Midtown Site Expansion

Despite being the Farm to Fork capital, Sacramento has persistent, high rates of food insecurity and unreliable access to nutritious foods for people facing hunger. Those affected most are the people already struggling – Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) neighbors experiencing poverty. The two biggest contributors to increased need are inflation and refugee resettlement. RCFB experienced a 41% increase in service in 2022 and anticipates this will continue to rise, all while its building is at maximum capacity.

Funding of $100,000 will build operational capacity and allow RCFB to:

1. Move administration staff offsite, creating more space for food storage.
2. Purchase a larger and more energy efficient refrigerator to safely store perishables.
3. Purchase, transport and distribute healthy, culturally meaningful food to 7,000 people.
4. Purchase a pallet stacker to increase operational efficiency.
5. Renovate the Midtown building to create a safe, usable space for staff and volunteers.

This project will be a springboard for future projects to expand services sustainably.

River City Food Bank is a boots-on-the-ground nonprofit that continually strives to meet the needs of the community. Our staff and volunteers speak the languages of our guests (e.g., Farsi, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese), which allows us to understand what foods are meaningful to each culture. As a trusted community leader for 55 years, RCFB will leverage Impact100’s funding to secure additional support to meet the needs of our neighbors experiencing food insecurity by advancing the following:

• Mission: Alleviate hunger in Sacramento County
• Social Responsibility: Improve energy efficiency, encourage inclusivity, increase volunteerism, and enhance food equity.
• Impact: Provide safety net to help families avoid a crisis, including homelessness, by providing consistent access to healthy, meaningful food for all.

Funding from Impact100 will grow capacity and efficiency at our Midtown location and help us alleviate hunger.

Check out this quick video for more information: River City Food Bank video

River City Food Bank report

Project Title: Theater Arts & Conflict Resolution Integrated Program

NorCal School of the Arts serves students in Title 1 schools in Sacramento and Yolo Counties. More than 10,000 students and their families and 400 teachers in K-12 public schools are reached by NorCal’s programming, making it one of the most comprehensive arts education programs in our region.

The Theater Arts & Conflict Resolution Integrated Program helps students feel connected to one another and supports self-expression while developing non-violent responses to conflict. The program helps to lower self-destructive risk factors in young people and increases their positive connections to self, peers, and the community.

Post pandemic, students are experiencing isolation, anxiety, depression, and lack of normal connection with peers as well as overuse of technology and social media. Many kids are in crisis. Through theatrical curriculum and rehearsals, students learn to self-reflect, regulate and be intentional in their expressions. Just as performing in front of an audience is stressful, an actor falls back on the many rehearsals and does what has been practiced. When a stressful conflict arises, students have tools and the rehearsal process to guide them in resolving conflict.

Through the artistic process students learn to trust themselves and their decision-making abilities. Through the social emotional learning activities students discover coping mechanisms and strategies to get through feelings of anxiety and build confidence in their abilities to advocate for themselves while remaining respectful of others.

Funding will train 50 classroom teachers and 1,330 students directly. Because lesson plans are provided to the classroom teachers, impact has the potential to last for the rest of a classroom teacher’s career, equipping thousands of students. There is a waiting list of schools that want this program. Impact100’s funding will grow this program into new districts and schools and make it possible for more students to receive this impactful, much needed program.

Check out this quick video for more information:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ga6ID46iHA

Project Title: Two Rivers Watershed Resilience Program

American River Conservancy ensures healthy ecosystems within the upper American River and Cosumnes River watersheds through land conservation, stewardship, and education. Our work benefits over 2.41 million people who depend upon the American River as their primary source of fresh water.

• Conservation: We protect over 29,000 acres and restore open space, biodiversity, natural habitat, and cultural resources through land purchases, donations, and conservation easements. Two-thirds of donated land is for public recreation and habitat protection.
• Stewardship: We are responsible for 35 miles of scenic foothill trails east of Sacramento. We steward 13,000 acres and work to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
• Environmental Education: We connect people with outdoors via place-based learning and bolster others to create a more sustainable world for life today and tomorrow.

Impact100’s funding will address these key priorities:

1. During winter 2022-2023, heavy rains and flooding caused a landslide on Lewis Ranch, nearly eliminating a primary access route for the stewardship of this 972-acre property. Repairs of $20,000 will restore this access road.
2. Our Chili Bar Park Conservation Easement on the South Fork of the American River provides river and boating access to 25,000 members of the public annually. Storms caused over 40 times the normal river flow, resulting in $20,000 worth of damage to the park which must be restored to support recreational opportunities.
3. The purchase of a chipper for $30,000 will greatly increase ARC’s ability to reduce fuels on over 6,000 acres of land in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains east of Sacramento. We will decrease excess vegetation, support fire safety in our community and benefit wildlife and plant life.
4. Staff costs to implement and manage this work are $30,000.

We are honored to preserve rivers and land for wildlife, plants, and people in perpetuity. 

Project Title: Ending Congenital Syphilis

Sunburst Projects serves men, women, children living with HIV and those seeking to know their HIV & STD status.

Congenital syphilis is a disease that occurs when a mother with syphilis passes the infection onto her baby during pregnancy. Approximately 40% of babies born to women with untreated syphilis will be stillborn or die from the infection as a newborn. Babies born with congenital syphilis can have skeletal and facial deformities, severe anemia, enlarged liver and spleen, jaundice, nerve problems causing blindness or deafness, meningitis, or skin rashes. Newborn babies born to mothers who did not receive syphilis treatment will have to undergo 10 days of grueling and painful injections to try and combat the congenital syphilis. Even with treatment, death is still possible.

In 10 years, female syphilis cases in California have increased over 1,181% and congenital syphilis cases increased over 950%. Studies done by UC Davis School of Medicine show a higher rate of congenital syphilis among women who are experiencing homelessness.

We help unhoused pregnant women diagnosed with syphilis by:

1. Providing housing during the 16-day syphilis treatment regimen is essential to keeping them engaged in treatment which includes painful shots that leave the mother tired and vulnerable. The days between the first and second shot are the most likely time a mother drops out of treatment.
2. Overseeing prenatal care through birth with intensive case management. We support these women by monitoring their medical care, offering personalized supplies, chaperoning to appointments, and supporting them during treatment.

Impact100 funding will allow us to dedicate a full-time medical case manager to this program, provide housing during treatment, provide supplies to mom and baby. Through the delivery of compassionate services, we will reduce newborn deaths, eliminate congenital syphilis among unhoused pregnant women, and bring healthy babies into this world.

Project Title: Effie Yeaw Nature Center Mobile Museum

EYNC is an award-winning environmental and cultural education center located within a 100-acre natural preserve on the banks of the American River. Its small museum focuses on the local flora and fauna of the region by offering hands-on activities, games, and educational exhibits. The center cares for over 30 rehabilitated native wild animals that cannot be released back into the wild. These animals help teach the public about native species, respect for wildlife, and the importance of the ecosystem and include a peregrine falcon, California Desert Tortoise, Western Pond turtle, and an American kestrel. These animals are a highlight for many of the children, offering a dynamic and memorable learning experience.

The EYNC serves 16,000-20,000 school children and welcomes over 100,000 visitors annually. Students experience an up-close encounter with animals, tour the museum, and join a naturalist to explore the Nature Preserve. Children encounter natural phenomena and learn science through the lens of patterns, structure and function, cause and effect, and more.

Impact100 funding will create a mobile museum to travel throughout the region to schools, community centers and events, reaching an even greater number of students. It will eliminate funding and logistical hurdles for schools and parents to coordinate field trips and serve an entire school site without the need for buses and additional staffing. The Nature Exchange Mobile Exhibit is a custom-designed turnkey experience that can be set up in school auditoriums or outdoors with a 200 sq ft design footprint.

The mobile museum allows EYNC to provide programming while our permanent site undergoes renovation that will close the museum intermittently for the next 1.5 years. With the mobile museum, ENYC continues its popular programming and meets the educational needs of area students. EYNC will serve an additional 10,000 children the first year and 20,000 the following year.

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