Connection to Nature
Connecting to nature is at the heart of our work. At Ignite Community Connections, we believe that being rooted in community is nurtured through time outdoors, where we can observe and learn from the natural systems that already model balance, interdependence, and equity. By exploring the natural world together, we create opportunities for healing, joy, and belonging, while also reimagining systems that move us away from extraction and toward justice, sustainability, health and joy.
Reconnect Outdoors
Reconnect Outdoors was created to provide immigrant and Latine families with welcoming spaces to heal, connect, and thrive in nature. With initial funding from Justice Outside’s Youth Access to Nature program and fiscal sponsorship from Latinos United for a New America (LUNA), we launched our first community hikes and witnessed the transformative power of bringing families together outdoors.
Since then, we’ve introduced families across San José and Santa Clara County to the joy of hiking, from exploring monarch butterfly habitats at Natural Bridges to seeing the ocean for the very first time. These outings go beyond recreation; they are a space for reconnection to nature and proactive exercise that addresses chronic illnesses disproportionately impacting the Latine community, such as diabetes and heart disease. Together, families build endurance, share stories, and strengthen community bonds while nurturing their health.
Today, we are proud to begin a new chapter with Local Color as our fiscal sponsor. This partnership will allow us to grow sustainably, reach more families, and expand opportunities for immigrant communities to access the healing, wellness, and joy that comes from being outdoors together.
Thank you to our previous fiscal sponsor
Reconnect Outdoors has joined the Local Commons
Ignite Community Connections and the Reconnect Outdoors Program is proud to be a fiscally sponsored project of Local Color, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit artists’ organization dedicated to fostering creativity and community. Through this partnership, we are able to grow our work with the support and infrastructure of Local Color while staying rooted in our mission to advance equity, wellness, and community connection in the outdoors.