Safe Routes Partnership E-News
Issue #199: October 2022
Safe Routes Partnership E-News is a monthly email newsletter published by the Safe Routes Partnership. We are also on Facebook and Twitter. Join us!
- Building Connections: How Communities Can Use Federal Funds to Connect People to Place, Opportunity, and Each Other
- E is for Evaluation: Using Data to Tell Your Safe Routes Story
- Announcing the New State-based 2023 Safe Routes to Parks Pennsylvania Activating Communities Program
- Headlines from the Hill (and Beyond): An End of Fiscal Year Roundup
- Safe Routes to School Summit: An Invitation to Connect, Engage, and Innovate
- Safe Routes to Parks as a Strategy to Create Welcoming and Inclusive Communities for Young People
- Get to Know Our Staff - Jonathan Matz
- Safe Routes Partnership Strategic Roadmap
1. Building Connections: How Communities Can Use Federal Funds to Connect People to Place, Opportunity, and Each Other
Are you looking for ways to fund projects to improve public spaces for people, making communities, parks, and green spaces more connected, accessible, and equitable? We’ll join the Trust for Public Land and the National League of Cities to highlight federal funding opportunities available to communities and organizations to improve health, connectivity, community engagement, mobility, and sustainability. Learn the benefits these federal programs offer, the types of projects eligible for each funding stream, and how interested communities can pursue these funds. Register here.
2. E. is for Evaluation: Using Data to Tell Your Safe Routes Story
Evaluation is one of the Six E’s of Safe Routes to School – and sometimes the hardest to figure out. Join us as we cover the fundamentals of evaluating your Safe Routes to School program. Learn what kinds of data to collect, how to use data to tell your story, and how local partners can help make data less daunting. Register for the webinar here.
3. Announcing the New State-based 2023 Safe Routes to Parks Pennsylvania Activating Communities Program
Safe Routes Partnership invites communities and organizations working to improve safe, equitable access to local parks in the state of Pennsylvania to apply for the 2023 Safe Routes to Parks Pennsylvania Activating Communities program. This new state-based Activating Communities program provides tailored technical assistance for four communities to develop Safe Routes to Parks action plans and awards $10,000 to each community to begin implementing those plans.
Applications will open on October 14, 2022 and will be accepted until December 2, 2022. Pennsylvania-based organizations who are interested in applying can join us for an application info session on November 10, 1-2pm ET (Register here.)
The last three years of the pandemic have highlighted the critical role parks play in providing people of all ages with much-needed exposure to nature, physical activity, and social connection. And it’s been exciting to see that across the country, decision-makers at all levels are responding by increasing public investments in parks and outdoor spaces. We want to work towards communities having those quality spaces and being able to safely and comfortably walk, bike, or roll to them. Now is the time to work together to increase equitable and safe access to these essential community spaces and actively engage community members in shaping the future of their neighborhoods.
Grantee communities will work closely with staff at the Safe Routes Partnership from January through September 2023 to develop community-driven action plans aimed at improving safe, equitable access to local parks in their communities. Read about how previous grantees advanced safe, walkable, and bikeable access to local parks in Honolulu, HI, Youngstown, OH, and Planada, CA. Apply to the program here.
4. Headlines from the Hill (and Beyond!): An End of Fiscal Year Roundup
It’s hard to keep up with all the funding changes, updates, hearings, and appointments as we approach the end of the federal fiscal year. Read our latest federal policy blog to catch up on the latest headlines related to Safe Routes to School, walking, and bicycling.
5. Safe Routes to School Summit 2022: An Invitation to Connect, Engage, and Innovate
As Safe Routes to School champions, we rise to the task of bringing people together by addressing the ever-changing needs of our communities. Doing so requires each Safe Routes to School program to actively connect, engage, and innovate. Read why these programs and the people who run them are so important and why you should join hundreds of Safe Routes to School advocates at our virtual Summit in our latest blog and register today here.
6. Safe Routes to Parks as a Strategy to Create Welcoming and Inclusive Communities for Young People
As October marks National Bullying Prevention Month, our latest Safe Routes to Parks blog considers how we can create inclusive spaces that support the joyful experience that walking or rolling to school, the local park, or the community center should be for our kids and young people.
7. Get To Know Our Staff – Jonathan Matz
As the California Senior Policy Manager, Jonathan works to promote state and local policies that facilitate active transportation and safe streets. He is passionate about helping to secure a future in which children across the state can safely walk and bike to school. Get to know more about Jonathan here.
8. Safe Routes Partnership Strategic Roadmap
The staff and board of the Safe Routes Partnership started the strategic planning process in 2019 to revise their current strategic plan before the end of 2020, interrupted by the pandemic, the board deferred the strategic planning process to 2020. The Safe Routes Partnership began the Real-Time Strategic Planning process in the Spring of 2021, and the key elements of the Strategic Roadmap were approved at the April 11, 2022 Board of Directors meeting! The Safe Routes Partnership Strategic Roadmap represents the latest effort of the Board of Directors to guide the organization toward growth and increased influence related to its mission. We look forward to working with our partners and staff to advance the Safe Routes to School movement through the implementation of our Strategic Roadmap in the coming years.