Thanks to your memberships and donations, the Glen Park Association is excited to announce that this year we have been able to budget and disburse $10k in grants to worthy neighborhood projects. We published a post about this program on January 13, 2022 on this website. Neighborhood organizations were able to apply for up to $2500. Grant applications needed to meet the guidelines set out and be consistent with GPA bylaws. By the deadline of February 28 we’d received seven applications. Fortunately we found that each application fulfilled the requirements.
We are thrilled to be able to support these worthy projects which enhance the liveability and beauty of our neighborhood and–especially–to support our youth who have borne the brunt of difficult times during the pandemic. However, this would not be possible without the support of the wider Glen Park community.
If you are not *yet* a member of the Glen Park Association, $10 will buy you a membership in our organization and give you the opportunity to help provide funding for wonderful neighborhood projects such as these.
Here are the grantees and their projects. Congratulations to all!
Burnside Mural+: For creating a mural depicting Glen Park and Glen Canyon history.
Extensive community input for the design was gathered through a survey, interviews, and a history walk. The mural, already in progress, was designed by the Twin Walls Mural Company, a local pair of women artists whose work can be found throughout the city, including SFMOMA. The mural is located at the Burnside Avenue cul-de-sac which adjoins the Glen Park Greenway. The dull green wall and retaining walls of the stairway will become a palate of color showing the treasures of our neighborhood. Viewers will have an opportunity to deepen their understanding and appreciation for the Glen Park neighborhood and Glen Canyon Park and enhance their connection to the community. It’s expected that the mural will become a meet-up point: “Let’s meet at the Burnside mural in Glen Park!”
Amount of grant: $1000.
St. John Evangelist School: For a Glen Park Greenway hedge screen.
The school’s goal and motto to serve the community–“Serviam” (I will serve)–are at the heart of this Greenway improvement project. Students will put this philosophy into practice by planting native, drought-tolerant tall shrubs and hedges that will provide habitat for pollinators and food for birds and create a natural privacy screen for the children. The plantings will be along the fence behind the school that runs along the footpath parallel to Bosworth, between Burnside and Chilton Avenues, and will be a natural oasis for runners, hikers, pedestrians and dog walkers.The project will reinforce the concept of being good stewards to the environment and do its part to reduce our carbon footprint and alleviate global warming.
Amount of grant: $1500
Citizen Film: For Bernal Cut beautification.
Stretching above San Jose Avenue, the Arlington Path begins at Roanoke to the south and ends at the north at the Highland Bridge. It is one of the few pedestrian-only pathways that take neighbors from the Mission to Glen Park BART station. To date efforts to improve this neglected walkway have been the work of individual neighbors planting along the fence, weeding and picking up trash. A hedge row of native drought tolerant plants and appropriate trees will be planted along the fence line which now features a broken chain link fence. The landscape will be transformed into a ribbon of biodiversity and beauty. There will be a benefit of noise reduction and pollution mitigation through the increase in green space on the barren hillside.
Amount of grant: $2000
Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project: For Glen Park Gum Tree Girls Festival 2022.
The Glen Park Gum Tree Girls Festival (GTGF) July 10,2022 will celebrate the moxie of Glen Park women, including Zoanne Theriault Nordstrom, Joan Seiwald, and Geri Arkush (the “Gum Tree Girls”), who stood up to government officials who would have destroyed the character and beauty of our neighborhood with their proposed construction of a viaduct freeway through Glen Park and Glen Canyon Park. It will also celebrate resident suffragists of 1908 and other 20th century women who stood up for the rights of women and others. The festival will include entertainment, children’s activities, history and nature walks, speeches, information booths, and a video of the history of the Gum Tree Girls. As we emerge from the pandemic the GTGF will provide enjoyment and relaxation, education, and will remember those who succumbed to COVID-19.
Amount of grant: $1000
Dolores Huerta Elementary School PTA: For Dolores Huerta Elementary Self-Portrait Tile Project
As a Spanish-immersion school with a 70% Hispanic population, Dolores Huerta Elementary School has always valued celebrating the cultural arts where all students can express themselves and be proud of their cultural heritage. To help with isolation brought on by sheltering in place due to COVID-19, students embarked on a self-portrait tile project. Due to the pressures and trauma of the pandemic, as well as problems of internet access and other issues, only 50% of self-portraits were collected and the project could not be completed. With the return to school in person, the tally of self-portraits rose to 70%. Now, one more round of self-portrait make-ups will reach the 100% goal. There will be hundreds of ceramic tiles, each laser-printed, arranged and installed along the wall across from the school library.
Amount of grant: $1500
Glen Park PTO: For STEAM Projects
Glen Park School is a diverse public elementary school that primarily serves low-income children who live in Glen Park and surrounding neighborhoods. The school’s STEAM Program (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) introduces students to STEAM concepts and improves literacy skills with fun and engaging projects and helps students overcome learning loss due to the pandemic while providing hands-on learning and team problem solving. Grant funds will be used to purchase materials to support two STEAM projects for grades K-5. The projects are engaging and easy for children to interact with, such as Shrinky Dinks, for lessons about the science and properties of materials; Scribble Bots, often students’ first built “robots”; and two garden bed covers for the school garden to prevent pest interference.
Amount of grant: $1500
Sunnyside Elementary PTA: For The Ray – Sunnyside Elementary Art & Literary Magazine
The Ray is Sunnyside Elementary School’s comprehensive art and literary journal which has featured the work of its students for the past 14+ years. A high quality finished product will be offered free of charge to each family and staff member of Sunnyside. For the first time students’ work will be shared with neighboring communities by showcasing student art and hosting student performances at local businesses across Glen Park and Sunnyside. The Ray is an opportunity for students to build creatively on their daily schoolwork and have an outlet to express themselves through art and writing. Merchants have agreed to display selections from the journal and spoken word events will be hosted at local shops. Students will witness their creative expressions celebrated by their community.
Amount of grant: $1500
