Spectrum News Visits the Commonwealth Nursery

Spectrum News 1 recently visited the Commonwealth Nursery in Griffith Park, where they interviewed Corps Alum Teresa Rogel. They were inspired by Teresa’s story of perseverance. Growing up, Teresa was unhoused and eventually was admitted to the foster care system. She never let her obstacles define her, working multiple jobs to make ends meet and to help support her family, and eventually joined the LA Conservation Corps when she turned 18.

As a Corpsmember, Teresa blossomed into a leader who took advantage of every opportunity that came her way. Recently, Teresa was promoted to a full time staff position at the Corps. She represents the LA Conservation Corps at community tree giveaway events with City Plants and works to help expand the urban tree canopy here in Los Angeles. Teresa’s story parallels that of so many of our Corpsmembers, who face a number of obstacles to success that are often out of their control. Our program is dedicated to removing those barriers and uplifting young people like Teresa so they can achieve their full potential and discover their purpose.Please take a minute to watch Spectrum’s story about Teresa. Click here to watch.

2024 High School Graduation Video Highlights

Join us in celebrating our 2024 High School Graduates! About 30% of our Corpsmembers join our program without their high school diploma; that’s why we partnered with LA Education Corps to ensure that every one of our Corpsmembers finishes our program as a high school graduate. Not having a diploma is a major barrier to finding a career for many of our Corpsmembers. This milestone is often the first step to a bright future. Part of what makes our program special is that we allow our Corpsmembers to earn a paycheck, job skills, and certifications while they pursue their educational goals. So often, we hear that young people are forced to drop out of school to help support their families. The LA Conservation Corps allows young adults from Los Angeles to do both. That’s why our East LA Corpsmember and 2024 Graduate Enrique believes “the Corps changed my life, and I feel like they can change everybody else’s too, for the better.”

Watch our 2024 High School Graduation Video to hear more from this year’s graduates and witness all the most powerful moments from their graduation. Click here to watch.

Annual Corpsmember Leadership Council Summit

Recently, Leadership Council Corpsmembers from every site came together to learn, connect, grow, and just have fun. They started the day with an introduction to basic yoga and meditation from Slippery Fruit before heading back to our Northeast LA site for wellness trivia, a leadership training workshop with Latinx Education Coach, an exercise on code-switching with our Compton Corpsmember Leslie, and a discussion with our Chief Programs Officer about the budget for Leadership Council-led events across our sites.

This was an incredible day of collaboration and learning for our Corpsmembers! Corpsmembers on our Leadership Council are advocates for their peers and are leading fun and exciting events and programs across our various sites. We are continuously inspired by their passion and commitment to the Corps. Check out the photo highlights from this year’s Annual Summit below.