Projects

Conservation

Civicorps’ Environmental Management Social Enterprise conducts environmental enhancement and mitigation projects across the Bay Area. Working in partnership with 11 public agencies, our Corpsmembers get paid to perform critical conservation projects while advancing their education and leadership skills.

Over the last several decades, we have worked diligently to acquire the equipment and train our crews and leadership to perform a wide range of conservation services. We are able to support our community and partners by providing trail construction and maintenance, woodland fire mitigation, habitat restoration and shoreline resiliency, and waterway improvement. In 2021 alone, our youth contributed 95,183 hours of conservation work to the community, reducing 45 acres of wildfire fuel load, clearing 43 miles of waterways and shorelines, and maintaining 65 miles of trails.

Civicorps performs a lot of outstanding work for us,” says Jeff Rasmussen, Assistant Finance Officer for East East Bay Regional Park’s District (EBRPD). “As a government agency, we benefit from supporting the mission of the Park District and the community, and the park district benefits by supporting the work that you do and giving people job opportunities, job training experience, and experience out in the parks.It’s challenging work, and we appreciate Civicorps’ hard work and flexibility.

As an agency, we strive to be flexible, prepared, and ready to send a crew wherever our community and environment need us.

  • Civicorps plays a deeply important role in the Bay Area’s conservation landscape. Their work with public agencies like EBRPD helps ensure our region’s precious open spaces, trails, and waterways remain beautiful, accessible, and environmentally sound. Through their dynamic job training program and rigorous high school diploma program, they are training the next generation of environmental stewards who will be on the forefront of protecting the Bay Area against the ravages of climate change. I am proud to advocate for Civicorps and the talented young people they serve.

    Senator Nancy Skinner
    Senator Nancy SkinnerCalifornia State Senate, 9th District
  • Habitat Restoration and Shoreline Resiliency

    Each fall, Civicorps works with EBRPD at the Shorebird Sanctuary located at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline in Oakland.…

  • Trail Construction and Maintenance

    We engage in trail construction and maintenance in parks all over the East Bay. Current project sites include the Contra…

  • Waterway Improvement

    The Bay Area is rich in wildlife, and our youth regularly engage in projects that preserve and restore habitats such…

  • Wildland Fire Mitigation

    Through EBRPD, Corpsmembers have opportunities to perform an array of land management work. One important project Civicorps performs is clearing…

Recycling

For the last 35 years, Civicorps has worked to increase recycling rates in California by providing collection services for bottles and cans. This has been made possible largely through funding received from CalRecycle. Today we provide single stream collection services to over 1200 businesses and institutions in Oakland – collecting over 300,000 pounds of recycling materials every month.

In 2015, we added three additional recycling services in response to diversified funding from CalRecycle: E-waste collection, removal and disposal of illegally dumped tires and used oil safety and education programs.

We offer competitively priced and customized collection services to ensure that the maximum number of businesses can responsibly and easily dispose of their recyclable materials.

Our seven daily routes are performed by program participants who are on a pathway to become Class B licensed drivers.  Participants train in industry standard vehicles and receive specialized instruction from our licensed trainer. All training hours are paid whether on the road performing a route, receiving behind-the-wheel training, or in the classroom. Our instructor will even accompany our interns to their driving test. Once they get their Class B, they’re eligible to transfer to Waste Management as a Teamster apprentice, which is a recognized position in the Teamster union. They’re also highly sought after by companies in the trucking industry, other recycling companies and city and county governments.

Our recycling services help to create a feeling of community for our Corpsmembers and the neighborhoods we serve. Cleaning up the tires, being present for the recycling services – often in Corpsmembers’ own neighborhoods – creates a feeling of pride and partnership that can be as rewarding as a paycheck.

  • Recycling is a big part of the big picture of the community and making sure we are all playing our part in the conservation of our world and of our neighborhoods and clean air quality. At Civicorps right now, being able to teach our interns and Corpsmembers the importance of it; for people of Oakland to see people of color out here serving their community, servicing the recycling stops, see them doing something positive, is real big.

    Antoine Penn
    Antoine PennRecycling Coordinator and former Corpsmember
  • Beverage containers

    With 35 years of recycling experience under our belt, and an industry standard fleet of ten rear-loader vehicles, we now…

  • civicorpsrecycling.org

    To learn more about our recycling services and partner with us, please see civicorpsrecycling.org

  • E-waste

    Since 2015, Civicorps has been partnering with Tri-Valley Recycling to pick up e-waste and deliver it to their facilities, where…

  • Oil & Tire Collection

    We are proud to assist the State of CA with used oil recycling. Every year we visit 120 or more…

Community Support

Deeply embedded in West Oakland, Civicorps has responded to our community’s changing needs throughout our 40 year history.  From engaging in emergency response after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 to confronting a global pandemic in 2020, we are consistently  challenged to innovate new ways of serving and supporting both our participants and our community.  We are called upon, over and over, to meet the moment.  And meeting the moment is what being a Corpsmember is all about.  It is about leadership. It is about understanding how what we do today influences who we will be tomorrow. And it is about service.

  • We are truly appreciative of everything you have learned… We now have an additional 42 members of the Oakland CERT Team!

    Lt. Sanchez
    Lt. SanchezOakland Fire Department
  • Community Beautification and Service

    Working with our project sponsors such as CalTrans, the Port of Oakland, the City of Alameda and the City of…

  • Community Crisis Support

    In Spring 2022, Civicorps’ Conservation Supervisors and Crew Leaders received Community Emergency Response Team certification. It marked the first time…

  • Food Bank

    In March 2020, answering Governor Newsom’s emergency call to action for California Conservation Corps to respond to the dire increase…

  • Pallet Shelters

    On a typical day, our Corpsmembers head out with a crew to work as Conservation or Recycling Interns. The day…