Hispanic Access Foundation is launching its new webinar series “Staying Connected to Conservation” on May 15. In the first webinar, “Water and How the World Has (and Hasn’t) Changed,” HAF and its featured guests will discuss the importance of staying engaged during this time — and how to do so from home; how COVID-19 has and hasn't changed the natural world; and improving resilience with green infrastructure.

Throughout my life I have had the opportunity to live in different cities. What I have learned from moving is the ability to learn different techniques and skills that have made the process less tedious. Moving to Santa Fe New Mexico was not as complicated as it has been moving to other places in the past. When I was looking for a place, I decided that the place should meet with three requirements: 1) That the rental cost was within the budget I created 2) That the place had a centric location 3) If possible, that the place was furnished. I was lucky to find a room that met these qualities in a house where an elderly couple lives in. upon my arrival they received me with a warm welcome and made me feel almost like another member of their family.

Picture this: you finally get the chance to work in our nation’s capital.

Things are going great, you’re finally getting acclimated, and a little over a month in a deadly virus forces you to go back home and work from there. This is the situation I, and many other fellows find themselves in right now, and while most people may see it as a strictly negative situation, I figure it’s my chance to make the best out of a bad situation.

As our nation experiences the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of access to the outdoors – an outlet for communities to support our mental and physical health – is magnified. Unfortunately, those in less privileged communities find themselves in a double whammy of air pollution making the disease more severe, while lacking the green space that is so necessary to resilience, health, and well-being.

While Congress debates the details of future stimulus bills, Hispanic Access Foundation’s President and CEO Maite Arce released the following statement to encourage Congress to include the Great American Outdoors Act, a bipartisan Senate bill that would fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and address the maintenance backlog in our public lands, as part of the package:

On May 6, the MANO Project hosted their second virtual Cafecito. A Cafecito is MANO’s way of bridging our intern community. This is an opportunity for MANO staff and interns to get to know each other and support one another through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cafecitos are a direct response to the isolation we are experiencing as a global community. It is our intention to create a space where folks can laugh, have fun, and build a network of Latinx leaders.

The biggest challenges that our community has faced during COVID-19 has been unemployment, lack of resources, education, homeless families/Title 1 Schooling. Another challenge has been seeing members with an essential job still experience low income because of their hours being cut. As a Pastor, my biggest challenges have been to make sure that the faith of our church members remains high and to keep the church united as one during this difficult time. Also not being able to do a home visit when needed has been the hardest.

This year, the Conservation team at HAF is focusing a portion of our work on ocean education, conversation, and advocacy. To support these efforts, the Ocean Alumni Advisory Council was created. Drawing from our network of MANO Project alumni, we pulled together a cohort of five alumni from across the country with backgrounds in ocean science and conservation to advise our Ocean work for the year. The Council has advised us on oceans research, policy, and community engagement around oceans.

When all of humanity is facing a pandemic, why should we care about conservation?

Because we need nature and the benefits it provides now more than ever. COVID-19 has both revealed and exacerbated deep inequities in access to green space. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be at home, away from the front lines, appreciate more than ever the mental and physical health boost provided by walks and nature views. And those in less privileged communities find themselves in a double whammy of air pollution making the disease more severe, while lacking the green space that is so necessary to resilience, health, and well-being.

The Latino Heritage Internship Program (LHIP), created by the National Park Service (NPS) and administered in partnership between the Hispanic Access Foundation and Environment for the Americas, is designed to provide internship opportunities to young adults in diverse professional fields in the National Park Service. The program helps raise awareness of our national parks and historic sites, their accessibility and the need for the Latino community’s involvement in their preservation.

As the news about the coronavirus emerged, I was working from my home office as usual since I founded Hispanic Access Foundation ten years ago. I live on five acres in rural northern Virginia with my husband Ted, and my parents Elena and Jose, two dogs – both named Buddy, and a cat named Tula. Everyone at my house is older than me – even Tula. I am 52.