Cal Neighbors

Chancellor's Fund Lends a Helping Hand - or Hundreds of Them - to Campus Neighbors

Seeking to bolster the efforts of local community-based organizations to improve the quality of life for Berkeley residents, UC Berkeley has awarded grants totaling $207,500 to a baker's dozen projects ranging from mentoring and mental-health services to habitat restoration and landscape rehabilitation.

The grants were made under the auspices of the Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund, established last year by Chancellor Birgeneau and funded by the university through an agreement between the campus and the city of Berkeley. Grants fall into one of two categories: community support and service projects that enhance the economic, social, or cultural well-being of Berkeley residents; and neighborhood improvement projects that enhance the physical environment of the city's neighborhoods.

This year's 13 winning projects were culled from 49 proposals that Birgeneau praised for their "variety and creativity." The projects, he said, "bring together the best efforts and thinking of the campus and local neighborhoods and civic organizations, and reflect their deep commitment to serving our community."

Grants from the fund, administered by the Office of Community Relations, were awarded this year to nine community-service projects and four neighborhood improvement projects. Some of the 2007-08 awardees, including the Berkeley High Student Court and Greening Berkeley Hands-On, also received funding in 2006.

Alternatives to Suspension
These repeat winners illustrate the two-pronged aims of the Chancellor's Fund: to encourage partnerships between UC Berkeley and community groups in order to enhance the quality of life for Berkeley students. The two-year-old Berkeley High Student Court, for example, offers some teens facing possible suspension an opportunity to work with Boalt Hall law students in a mock-courtroom setting, where juries of their peers mete out less severe — and less academically damaging — sentences.

The program handled 47 cases last year, "a huge jump" from a caseload of 27 it managed the year before, says part-time coordinator David Luu, who attributes the increase to additional administrative personnel as well as to more extensive outreach to Berkeley High students.

And while avoiding suspension may be topmost in the minds of participating students, "it's about something bigger," explains Luu. "It's about fairness and justice. It's about giving students a bigger voice in what happens to them."

Annie Johnston, Berkeley High's teacher liaison to the student court, says about half the Chancellor's Fund grant — which totals $7,500 this year — will go to "support the connection we have built with Boalt Hall, through which law students come to BHS to teach students about court procedures and work with them to prepare cases for trial." The rest will be used to increase opportunities for community service and access to student-support resources.

"We greatly appreciate the support provided by the Chancellor's Fund," says Johnston, who adds that the grant "will significantly increase our links to community partners as we provide alternatives to suspension and avenues for students to be pulled into school."

Keeping Berkeley Green
Greening Berkeley, which received $17,000 for this academic year, marshals volunteers and provides materials to assist citizen groups in creating and restoring people-friendly, biodiverse green spaces in neighborhoods throughout the city of Berkeley. The program sprouted last year as a way to unite the efforts of several local environmental groups, including Friends of Five Creeks, the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association, Schoolhouse Creek Common, Aquatic Park EGRET, Berkeley Community Orchard, and Friends of Westbrae Commons.

Hundreds of Berkeley students are expected to take part in the program this fall, volunteering to help restore historic paths, clean up creeks, or improve community parks and gardens.

"Our goal is to bring students outdoors into the community to work alongside the people who live here," says Friends of Five Creeks' Susan Schwartz. "We hold regular volunteer work parties throughout the year — people can join us just for an afternoon and still be able to help make a difference."

In addition to funding a student coordinator, Greening Berkeley will use its grant to purchase a variety of supplies including tools and gloves, native plants, and interpretive signs.