At Central Coast Salmon Enhancement, we have a constantly growing to-do list. However, as a small nonprofit, we have limited staff and limited time. That’s why we’re incredibly thankful for the Watershed Stewards Program (WSP), an organization that assists communities with habitat restoration for salmonids. We have two WSP members working with us for the next 10 and a half months, and we’re thrilled that they’ve joined us to help restore our watershed creek and steelhead trout habitat.
WSP is an AmeriCorps service program for young people that’s a part of the California Conservation Corps. Every year, the program places about 50 members at different natural resource organizations, where they help with a variety of projects.
Lauren Malinis and Khaalid Abdullah joined our team in October. They’ll be conducting service projects, leading environmental educational curricula at local schools, and collecting data in the field — work that will greatly help our research and outreach efforts. It’s a win-win situation: the members receive valuable work and community outreach experience while the surrounding community and habitats benefit from their efforts.
Lauren is excited about gaining work experience. She said she’s trying to get into grad school, studying either marine science or fisheries, and that the WSP program will help her pay for that.
Khaalid said he gets satisfaction out of knowing he’s benefitting California’s natural resources. “It’s an opportunity to be active in the world and give people knowledge about water conditions in our state. Physically getting the job done satisfies me, knowing I’m doing whatever I can to help the state of California,” he said.
Are you ready to help keep the Watershed Stewards Program alive at CCSE? So far we have raised $4,000 of our goal of $8,000.
Click here to give – no amount is too small. We are genuinely thankful for your generous support.
