Friends of Santa Cruz County Parks Hires Tricia Potts

From Friend of Santa Cruz Co.: Tricia Potts will join Friends of Santa Cruz County Parks as Program Director, the non-profit organization has announced. Tricia spent six years heading up an effort to create a groundbreaking public-private partnership with the County of Santa Cruz to build LEO’s Haven at Chanticleer Park, the county’s first fully inclusive playground for children of all abilities. Due to her successful grassroots fundraising and advocacy approach, and with the support of many community businesses, service groups, individuals and foundations, LEO’s Haven is slated to open early 2020.

“Tricia brings incredible drive, clarity and experience to our work. Her personal dream led to the LEO’s Haven Inclusive Playground, and we are humbled and excited to continue collaborating for our community.” said Mariah Roberts, Executive Director of Friends of Santa Cruz County Parks.
As one of Potts’ first actions, she has launched the pilot program of "Together, We Are Able,” a social inclusion education program designed to bring awareness and understanding to children of all abilities, This groundbreaking program, which has already reached 45,000 students in the LA area through Friends’ non-profit partner, Inclusion Matters by Shane's Inspiration, is a vital part of breaking down bias and bullying towards children with disabilities while teaching all children needed social skills to interact and build connections with each other. The program will consist of in-class conversations and activities partnered with a field trip to LEO’s Haven where children of all abilities will be partnered together and given the opportunity to positively connect through the vehicle of play. Potts and her team have already conducted an initial inclusion session with students at Valencia Elementary as well as held a teacher training in-service which included staff from the Live Oak School District, Santa Cruz Health Centers, County Office of Education and County Park Department Recreation Department.

Grant partners for the “Together, We Are Able” pilot program include the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, host of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; the Christopher and Dana Reeves Foundation; the Reiter Family Foundation; Inclusion Matters by Shane’s Inspiration; and Kaiser Permanente.

For more information out this program visit www.countyparkfriends.org
The Friends of Santa Cruz County Parks’ mission is to preserve, protect, improve and promote the use of Santa Cruz County parks and open spaces for recreational activities, arts and cultural activities to benefit all generations in our diverse community.
Press Contact: Terry Corwin, Board President, Friends of Santa Cruz County Parks 831-600-6737, teresacorwin501@gmail.com.

This press release was produced by Friends of Santa Cruz Co. The views are the author's own.