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Agencies
San Francisco ICO offers wilderness experiences to inner-city people who might otherwise be unable to get to the great outdoors. Our ICO volunteers work year-round to develop partnerships with agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area. We work with elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as community centers, shelters, at-risk youth programs, rehab, and various youth programs. Our participants range in age from 8 to 24, and older,
and come from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
If your school or community group would like to be involved in Inner City Outings, please read the information below and email the Agency Coordinator, Linda Olvera at
lindao2@sbcglobal.net
or call 510-339-8288.
Who We Are
Our Certified Leaders are Sierra Club members who have assisted on ICO trips as helpers and have completed a program of formal training and supervised leadership. They must maintain current first aid certification and submit fingerprints and driver's license to the California Department of Justice and the Department of Motor Vehicles for matters of public record regarding criminal history and driving record. ICO leaders and helpers are all non-paid volunteers.
How to Apply to ICO
Return the Agency Application Form to the ICO Agency Coordinator at the address listed on the form. Please complete this form in as much detail as possible (available in both PDF
 and MS Word
 ):
There are usually more agencies than available Certified Leaders, but if we cannot help you immediately your application will be kept on file and as new leaders are trained or old ones become available your request will be reviewed. Your chance of connecting with a Certified Leader right away depends on a lot of factors, including your location and your needs. You may request a single outing, or in some cases our leaders have worked with agencies on a continued basis for many years.
Arranging an Outing
ICO leaders generally prefer to lead a day hike with participants prior to car camping or backpack outings. After an initial extended phone conversation or meeting with the primary agency contact person, the ICO leader will conduct a pretrip meeting with the participants and staff going on the outing. Ground rules, transportation, equipment, food, safety, and any other necessary issues will be discussed. Equipment such as backpacks and other camping gear may be displayed and demonstrated. Please keep in mind that all our leaders are volunteers, and that making sure that all aspects of an outing are arranged properly -- clothes and equipment, food, adequate transportation, and the appropriate paper work -- while holding down a full time job is logisticly similar to invading a small country. The active cooperation of agency staff will make it more likely that the outing will go smoothly.
Staffing
ICO rules require at least one certified ICO leader, one ICO volunteer, and one agency representative accompany each trip. The agency representative is expected to know the participants and be responsible for maintaining discipline. Staffing levels vary greatly depending on the age and nature of the participants.
Medical Information and Liability Release Form
This form must be completed and signed by a participant over 18, or by a minor participant's parent or legal guardian and returned to the ICO leader prior to the outing. No participant, including agency personnel, may begin an outing until this form has been given to the ICO leader.
Transportation
Outings utilize agency cars or vans, ICO volunteers' autos, or public transit. ICO volunteers are required to have current driver's licenses and carry automobile liability insurance. Each participant must wear a seat belt.
Forbidden Items
With the possible exception of radios with earphones used in the car only during long drives, participants must not bring guns, drugs, knives, radios, beepers, or phones.
General Guidelines
The following are ICO's general expectations of the agency, but these may be altered by previous arrangement between the agency and the ICO leader:
- Finances: The agency will pay for food, campground fees, bridge tolls, parking fees, or any other fees incurred during the trip (such as ferry tickets or bus fare) and will reimburse ICO drivers for the gas used transporting participants during the outing. Volunteers donate their time and the use of their cars (and sometimes their gas on local outings). Some scholarship money is available.
- Water and Food: The agency should insure that each participant brings an adequate container of water on the outing (this may simply be a plastic liter soda bottle). Food requirements and menu will be decided on at the pretrip meeting, and agencies are expected to make no significant changes in the menu without conferring with the ICO leader.
- Equipment: Except for participants' water bottles, ICO will provide all equipment necessary for the safe conduct of the outing, including an ICO approved first aid kit.
We are currently working with the following agencies:
Arise High School
Special needs alternative high school
6/10/2008: called to see if still active: cherie
male and female children ages 8-12 of various ethnicities who come from low-income families.
changed leader to ben. ja 9-2-09
Boys and Girls Club of the Coastside
Members are 10-14 year-old males and females from lower-income households, primarily hispanic.
Youth-led co-ed adventure crew associated with the Boy Scouts of America.
Agency seeking new funding source. Temporarily inactive. ja 9-9-09
East Bay Mercy Housing
EM Downer Elementary School
Participants are 4th grade students at EM Downer elementary. Two thrds of the students are boys and 60% are English Language Learners and native Spanish speakers.
Envision Academy of Arts and Tech Oakland High
Participants are from an ethnically diverse public charter high school in Oakland.
EPAPA (East Palo Alto Phoenix Academy) is the high school continuation of EPACS (East Palo Alto Charter School). [Originally called EPACS HS) The school was started because the EPACS community felt a need to provide high school education to the students who attended EPACS. With no high school in the community, the students who went to EPACS for 8 years were separated from each other and dispersed to multiple different high schools in various surrounding communities. EPACS HS is starting small (1 9th grade class) and will expand each year. 2 dedicated teachers (Tom Madson and Nick Romagnolo) are currently doing all the teaching.
The students reflect the diversity of the surrounding communitiy:
80% Latino, 18% African-American, 2% Asian or Pacific Islander;
55% English language learners, 87% Qualify for free/reduced-price lunch
ERES Academy Oakland
ERES is a new K-8 school (2009) in the Aspire Public Schools charter network. Aspire works to provide an excellent education for low-income and minority students.
The third grade classroom is "Stanford University themed" and the sutdents are working very hard to achieve multiple years worth of growth.
The teacher, when working in LA, used to take students on ICO Outings with the LA ICO.
San Francisco, California
Gateway High School
In San Francisco, an Outdoors program founded by an ICO volunteer.
Holy Names High School, a small Catholic school for young women, provides an academically challenging college preparatory education in a vibrant learning environment. Our diverse community nurtures spirituality, encourages artistic expression, and promotes justice, preparing the next generation for leadership and service.
ICO volunteers
parochial high school in san francisco
Kung Fu Grocery
Kung Fu Grocery is a fantastic program in the North Oakland area. In the summer, they do a day camp that incorporates kung fu, tutoring, nutritional education (and food prep), along with other activities. Kate Hobbs runs the program and has been serving youth for nearly two decades. The youth range in ages from 5 to 18, with some former students volunteering as assistants on the program. During the school year, they continue their kung fu training and mentoring at different times during the week. On Saturdays, they train in the morning and are looking work with ICO in the afternoons.
The mission of the Lighthouse Community Charter School (LCCS) is to prepare a diverse, K-12 student population for higher education or the career of their choice by equipping each child with the skills, knowledge, and tools to become a self-motivated, competent, lifelong learner.
In order for every child to reach his or her fullest potential, we prioritize the following tenets:
Every child must be held to clearly articulated, high expectations for achievement,
The school, families, and community must collaborate to meet the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical needs of every child, and
Teachers and administrators must be engaged in a reflective and collaborative environment of ongoing professional development that is focused on student achievement.
Linda's Kids
formerly kids from Lafayette Mentoring & Tutoring program
Mercy Housing
Based in San Francisco, we work with both elementary and high schoolers.
Presidio Community YMCA
Earth Service Corps Youth come from four public middle-schools in San Francisco. They range in diversity but the majority of the youth we serve are Asian-American. They are 11-13 years old.
They want day-hikes and weekends only.
Redwood High School
Sciene teacher at Redwood Continuation high School is looking to get students engaged with nature through hiking in the outdoors, starting with day hikes, on weekdays.
The high school serves about 320 at-risk students, whose student body is very diverse. Sudents are wards of the court, homeless, in group homes, in special ed, and single-parent households. Mayn work at least one job after school. Most have had little exposure to nature. Hiking in the outdoors can only enrigh the lives of the students as the explore and study their natural surroundings.
The Richmond campus opened in 2003 and has expanded to serve grades 9 through 12. We offer:
* Tuition-free public charter high school
* College preparatory curriculum
* Small and safe learning environment
* Innovative leadership curriculum, including a three day Leadership Retreat
* Highly qualified teaching staff and school leadership
S F International HS
Sanchez Elementary School
Participants are 5th grade students. 83% of the student population qualifies for free or reduced lunch. Of this population, many of them qualify as "at risk" for a variety of reasons. Additionally, 70% of the population is English Learners.
Interested in ongoing day hikes on weekends and/or weekdays (prefers weekdays)
Sobrante Park Elementary School
We are a k -5 elementary school located in East Oakland. The kids we service on our outings are our GATE students.
The mission of the Hispanic Speaking Citizen's Foundation is to empower the individual and community to improve the quality of life while enriching our cultural heritage.
SSCF has been improving the lives of low-income Latinos in Oakland since 1965. Over the years the organization has evolved into a family resource center that provides an enormous range of services.
Each year SSCF assists 12,000 members of the community through providing vital social services and enhancing opportunities for leadership development and civic participation. They have a range of bilingual programs including Advocacy & Information, Citizenship Empowerment, Youth After-School Tutoring and Cultural Arts, La Raza Youth Leadership, and Youth Workforce Preparation.
Tamiscal High School
Public High School in Marin County.
Activities Are For Youth 13 and Under and Their Families -
Mission: To bring together resources and programs to enhance the economic, educational, social and cultural well being of children. We promote community unity, cultural awareness, connectedness, and engagement amongst diverse populations. Our target demographic resides in underserved communities such as public and subsidized housing developments.
Goals: To provide a safe environment for after school and summer enrichment programs. To implement activities in an inclusive manner for children from neighborhoods traditionally lacking mentorship and services. To expose children under 14, and their families, to unfamiliar cultures, activities, and places.
Think College Now Elementary School
Kids are in K-5. For trips, it would be 3-5th graders. Allison Henkel is new contact.
Interested in hiking, car camping, open to new stuff
Available to do trips on Wednesdays 1-5pm or 3-530pm in association with afterschool program. Can leave a bit early from school day as well as needed. Allison not sure if weekend trips are doable.
Challenges - budget cuts and lots of new regulations with O.U.S.D.
Her preference would be to get something going for the 3rd graders (class sizes are 22 max). 4th and 5th graders currently go on one trip a year with school but this has taken a hit with budget cuts this year. She would also like the 4th/5th grade afterschool program for girls to be tied into doing trips (max size would be 30 kids).
Thurgood Marshall High
High School in San Francisco.
If you have more questions, please email the Agency Coordinator, Linda Olvera at
lindao2@sbcglobal.net
or call 510-339-8288.
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