Saint Mary's College of California
EN-9: Community Partnerships

The College has a formal memo of understanding (MOU) with The Urban Farmers, a nonprofit organization that harvests backyard fruit for donation to hunger relief agencies that serve people in need of food including the elderly, disabled, and disenfranchised. The Urban Farmers seek to continually improve the hunger reduction, health promotion, environmental awareness, and community building opportunities available to its community through collaboration. The College has partnered with The Urban Farmers for approximately six years through Saturdays of Service projects, a student-initiated Urban Farmer's club, and senior thesis action research. The director, Siamack Sioshansi is so dedicated to being a co-educator that he will frequently read the books and articles that students are reading in community engagement courses assigned to Urban Farmers.

For a January Term course, chemistry professor Steven Bachofer offered a Precious Watersheds for Life community engagement course. Professor Bachofer and his students were issued a permit to run experiments to determine the dissolved oxygen levels of the lake at the Lafayette Reservoir, which is a recreational site and emergency water supply on the East Bay Municipal Utility District land. The College also established a formal MOU with the Mt. Diablo Unified School District, a California public school district, so Professor Bachofer and his students could provide an experiment to 3rd grade students at one of the district's schools. The hands-on, classroom experiment was on the viability of a free floating plant, duckweed, and why we should not pour various solutions into the gutters and storm drains in order to have a sustainable environment.

Local: The College has a formal MOU with Monument Crisis Center, a nonprofit that serves low income families and individuals in Contra Costa County through dynamic service programs focused on providing nutritious food, health and nutrition education, access to health care and wellness programs, general assistance and vital resource and referrals. In addition to its "safety net of services" the Monument Crisis Center advocates for the issues and needs of at-risk populations, helping to connect the community in a forward effort to alleviate poverty. The Monument Crisis Center has been a service site for CILSA's Saturdays of Service, our SALT Internship Program, and several undergraduate and graduate community engagement and community-based research courses. Starting in fall 2015, the College and Monument Crisis center share an AmeriCorps*VISTA Member and are exploring possibilities for expanded place-based initiatives.

Non-local: The College has had a 3-year partnership with Gardens for Health International in Rwanda for the January Term course with instructors Ryan Lamberton and Jim Losi. The mission of Gardens for Health International is to provide lasting agricultural solutions to chronic childhood malnutrition by partnering with health clinics, advocating for policies and programs, and providing technical assistance to regional partners. Students spend two days engaging in service and learning activities. Students have learned about ending childhood malnutrition through educating mothers about sustainable farming practices.