The Anchoring Healing Through Nature Initiative is rooted in a simple but powerful vision: everyone in San Diego County can access and benefit from the healing power of nature.

Through generous funding from The Conrad Prebys Foundation, in 2025 and early 2026, we conducted a community needs assessment to answer two questions:

1. What are the key barriers and opportunities for communities in San Diego to access and engage with nature-based experiences that support health and well-being?
2. What community-driven approaches can best support meaningful connections between individuals, communities, and nature to promote well-being?

We gathered input from over 500 people across San Diego County using a variety of methods, including:

• A community survey reaching hundreds of residents
• Interviews with organization leaders
• A youth photography project with high school youth
• Focus groups in communities across the county
• Countywide listening sessions to validate and deepen findings
• Meaning-making sessions to reflect on findings with community leaders, partners, and our Advisory Council

What we heard was clear: Nature plays a vital role in mental, physical, and community well-being—but barriers like cost, safety, transportation, access, and a sense of belonging continue to shape who benefits from it. We are working to change that through collective impact.

More information on the report and its findings can be found here.

Be Part of the Change

Lasting change requires collective effort. That’s why we invite you to join the San Diego Healing Through Nature Coalition—a countywide network to advance cross-disciplinary collaboration that uplifts communities while expanding equitable access to nature-based healing through programs, policy, research, and collective action.

Join the Coalition

Why Join?

As a coalition member, you will:

• Shape the future of this work by contributing your expertise and perspective
• Build capacity for your organization's mission work.
• Connect and build with a diverse set of allies across San Diego County
• Access funding opportunities, including stipends and micro-grants for collaborative projects (as available)
• Amplify your work and increase visibility for your organization through shared communications
• Engage in working groups and initiatives that drive real, on-the-ground impact and strengthen community-led work
• Participate in gatherings, learning opportunities, and collective action

Whether you are a community-based organization, public agency, educator, healthcare provider, or advocate, your voice and partnership are essential.

Contact:

Questions? Comments? Interested in partnering? Reach out via the contact form under "Education and Engagement."

Special Thanks to our Partners

This initiative has been shaped by the voices and support of the San Diego community and beyond. We want to extend our thanks to all the study participants, from community to local organizations that helped along the way.

We are deeply grateful to our dedicated Advisory Council, who provided acritical guidance and perspective to this work. Thanks to their contributions, we were able to ask better questions, reflect more deeply, and stay accountable to the communities we aim to serve. We'd like to recognize Outdoor Outreach; Urban Collaborative Project; UCSD Center for Community Health Executive Director Blanca Meléndrez; Plants, People, Community Executive Director Bianca Bonilla; County of San Diego, Parks and Recreation Trails Program Manager Lizzy Bendrick; LMFT and Certified Kripalu Mindful Outdoor Guide Tammah Watts; San Diego County Office of Education Environmental Literacy Coordinator Crystal Starr Howe; UCLA Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies Director Jon Christensen; Outdoor Outreach Youth Leadership program alumni Jennifer Nguyen, and other key individuals and organizations.

In addition, we want to thank the team at Reimagining San Francisco for sharing their insights and providing a framework for the development of our own San Diego Healing Through Nature Coalition.

Lastly, we thank our core funding partners, The Conrad Prebys Foundation, whose support, vision, and belief in the healing power of nature have helped bring this project to life.