Ventana Wildlife SocietyAt — Ventana Wildlife Society

When people have meaningful outdoor experiences, their health, quality of life, and social well-being improve, and in turn, communities become stronger and more sustainable.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to enjoy time outdoors, because when people connect with nature, we all benefit. Our meaningful outdoor education for historically marginalized communities include weekly school year nature classes, week-long summer day camps with one overnight campout and shorter nature programs for youth and families.

Our Wellness Though Nature programs often partner with healthcare providers and may be referred to as “nature prescriptions”. Nature prescription programming is a movement in which park agencies, environmental education providers and healthcare professionals are working together to engage communities in healthy outdoor activities. Read about the movement here: https://www.parkrx.org/about

VWS is building relationships with healthcare providers, but the number one challenge is that healthcare providers are often overwhelmed and unable to dedicate extra time to nature prescriptions. Our Wellness Through Nature Program facilitates involvement from the healthcare community, strengthens current connections and forges new ones. This internship is a unique opportunity to assist with increasing Wellness Through Nature opportunities for historically marginalized communities and strengthening partnerships between healthcare providers and meaningful outdoor education programs in Monterey County.

Key responsibilities include assisting Wellness Through Nature program coordinator in developing relationships with healthcare providers; attending collaborative meetings with local organizations and providers; planning and implementing Wellness Through Nature programming; attending team-wide meetings and trainings.