July – Urban Nature Partners PDX
Urban Nature Partners PDX is a small, Portland-based nonprofit, and we’re thrilled to receive the support of the Backyard Bird Shop and its customers in the month of July. Our program empowers youth from historically marginalized Portland communities through long term one-on-one mentoring relationships and access to meaningful outdoor experiences—which are more important than ever during the pandemic which is disproportionately affecting these communities.
Our program fills a gap in services for youth in 4th through 9th grades by providing access, resources, and opportunities in local greenspaces that are relationship based, family inclusive, culturally responsive, and long term. Urban Nature Partners PDX intentionally combines the best practices of traditional mentoring and experiential outdoor education to give youth the benefits of both spending time with a mentor and spending time outdoors—especially now that our young people are missing both relationships at school, and active time outside of their homes.
We provide basic outdoor gear and resources to all of our youth, and adult guidance to remove barriers to taking advantage of greater Portland’s superlative network of urban greenspaces through a tiered set of experiences. Our foundation is weekly one-on-one mentor-youth outings in neighborhood greenspaces. These are complemented by family inclusive group events offered once or twice monthly that provide more in-depth opportunities to experience natural areas and try new outdoor activities—which during the pause, looks like delivering monthly nature-based kits directly to families (our January kit was of course about birding!), so they can learn and enjoy the outdoors socially distanced with their mentor in neighborhood parks they can walk or bike to. Beyond their first year, youth are offered scholarships to partner led, nature based camps, and then leadership opportunities guided by their interests and strengths—and we’re crossing our fingers to be able to offer these awesome experiences again to our youth in summer 2021!
You can learn more about our program at www.urban-nature-partners.org, follow us on social media at www.facebook.com/urbannaturepartnerspdx. Every volunteer mentor and dollar of donations goes a long way for a small organization like ours. Thank you so much for your support of equitable outdoor access for all!
5% of Books and Plastic Feeders sales will go to support Urban Nature Partners PDX
*Up to $2,000