Stanislaus County Community Champions Program

ABOUT THE PROGRAM 

The Stanislaus County Community Champion Program is a paid opportunity for up to 20 Stanislaus County residents to learn about and explore walking and biking safety, active transportation, and healthy living in their communities. Champions will participate in a series of virtual and in-person interactive educational trainings and develop a meaningful activation project that moves their community to take action on their safety goals. The program will be bilingual in English and Spanish. The program is a collaboration between California Walks (Cal Walks) and the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency (Stanislaus HSA), with funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

The 2023 Community Champion Program will work with you to:

  • Understand your community’s walking and biking safety concerns; 

  • Identify infrastructure and programmatic strategies to address the safety concerns and support the walking and biking safety needs of the community;

  • Learn how to advocate for change with your local government, transportation agency, and other leaders; and

  • Develop a meaningful activation project that moves your community to action.

APPLY IF YOU

  • Live in Stanislaus County

  • Are a community resident, community leader, and/or part of a faith group or community organization

  • Are part of a school community, including school or school district staff, school leaders, parents, grandparents and/or caregivers

  • Are committed to leadership development and safer streets

PARTICIPANT RESPONSIBILITIES

You will earn $400 if you successfully complete the following: 

  • April 17, 2023 – May 26, 2023: Actively participate in six (6) 2-hour training sessions for a total of 12 hours. Trainings may cover:

    • Community Listening Session: Learn about program goals and expectations

    • Community Visioning & Safe Systems: Learn about Safe System strategies to improve community safety

    • Community Context: Walk your community and talk with other Champions about safety concerns and needs

    • Engaging Power: Learn about walking and biking safety from local government officials and decision-makers

    • Advocacy Skill Share: Learn how to advocate for change with your community 

    • Community Power & Champion Showcase: Celebrate your accomplishments!

  • May - June 2023: Plan and host your activation project - for an estimated total of 10 hours. 

  • May 2023: Participate in the Activation Project Showcase for an estimated total of 5 hours.

ACTIVATION PROJECTS 

Activation projects are supposed to encourage your community to take action on a specific walking and biking safety or healthy living concern or goal. Two examples of activation projects from past projects: 

  • Temporary Art Crosswalks on High Street, Ventura County

    • Champions installed a temporary Art Crosswalk on High Street in Downtown Moorpark. During the demonstration, champions surveyed people walking to hear about what they did or did not like about the temporary crosswalk. 

  • Safety Messaging Campaign at Vermont Elementary, San Bernardino County

    • Champions walked the neighborhood around Vermont Elementary in Muscoy and gathered notes and pictures about their walking and biking safety concerns. Then, they developed safety messaging posters about slowing driver speeds and held the posters outside of the school to educate walkers, bicyclists, and drivers. 

 
 

HOW TO APPLY

Applications are now closed. For questions about the program, please contact Wendy Ortiz at wendy@calwalks.org or (714) 742-2295.

PAST PROJECTS

To learn more about past iterations of the program, please see the: