Conservation Corps North Bay

Most of the youth that comprise our corps enter the program with no high school diploma or work experience. Some have been incarcerated. Almost all are from extremely low income households. Our systems and society are not set up to ensure their success. Joining CCNB allows young people to complete high school, earn a paycheck and benefits, learn and practice industry-certified skills, and access wraparound support services and career guidance.

When tires get left in bodies of water (yuck!) our Zero Waste team is often lucky enough to be able to borrow waders from our Natural Resources team. Our Zero Waste team recently surveyed the corpsmembers to ask what types of items they would like to receive from our donors, and their own waders came up as a high priority. Want to help? You can buy a set of waders online for a corpsmember: https://smile.amazon.com/hz/charitylist/ls/WQM6HTJFJMTZ/

Working in Healdsburg, one of our crews created road clearance and reduced fire fuel hazards on a beautiful property looking over the valley vineyards. Our corpsmembers flawlessly took down large trees along a narrow and steep road. They got to experience an environment years after a wildfire burned through and were able to holistically see the positive impacts they had on the safety of the property owners through their fire fuel reduction!

Corpsmember Spotlight: Victor A. Victor has shown great promise as a crew member on the Sonoma County Youth Ecology Crew and has shown a lot of great potential, making a huge difference on the crew. One of the things that Victor loves the most is the fact that he gets to work alongside people he can trust and count on and in return they do the same for him. Victor always steps up to take lead on projects when it comes to running his favorite tool (the hedger) and taking down... blackberry plants. He is always one of the first ones out of the van ready to go and is always taking lead on the fire chain by being at the bottom where all the heavy lifting starts. One of the great things about Victor is the fact that he never misses a single day of work and shows up on time every day. Congrats, Victor!

It's another beautiful day in the North Bay! Have a great weekend, everyone.

Good morning! Litter abatement isn't always the most glamorous work, so it can be fun to have some tall, curious company.

Corpsmember spotlight: Sam B. Sam is always ready to share a smile to brighten people's days! He is a hard worker and constantly seeking to learn more. This was exemplified when he partook in the AHEAD training program; he finished the multi-tiered training first and constantly displayed gratitude and excitement for learning new skills.... His positive attitude shines through around others as he can seamlessly move between different crews.

One of our crews, seen here at Verissimo Hills Preserve, has been hard at work alongside Marin County Parks staff at parks across the county! This partnership allows our corpsmembers to learn valuable skills and explore future careers while making our beautiful (and green!) hills safe and accessible for us all to enjoy.

It has been a busy month for training! Our staff have led several sessions of Forklift Certifications and First Aid/CPR trainings for corpsmembers, giving them more access to leadership roles at CCNB and more potential job opportunities once they complete our program. Check out all the certifications we offer our corpsmembers:... https://www.ccnorthbay.org/education/certificates/

Last month, corpsmembers from Marin removed irrigation from wetland in Greenbrae as well as clearing out trash across the entire wetland. This hardworking crew also had the opportunity to learn more about what plants are helpful to maintain a healthy biodiverse wetland.

In late January, our Marin and Sonoma Zero Waste teams came together in a joint effort to remove tires from an otherwise beautiful location in Tomales Bay. We were notified of a location in Marconi Cove, which had a few dozen tires that were once used as part of the local oyster farming efforts in the bay, but had never been fully removed from the site. Our teams had a great time wading in the receding tide and got a chance to practice their power-tool skills, as some of the tires were bolted together.

Our crews have loved being a part of this effort