Sierra 2 Center for the Arts & Community

Needs

Funds are needed to assist with capital repair projects necessary to maintain and preserve the historic 40,000 square foot, 3 acre property. Replacement of significant portions of the flooring and updates to HVAC systems will be required in the next two to three years, totaling $25,000-$50,000 or more.

The Senior Center at Sierra 2 has been slow to recover from the pandemic closures, financially and in participation. We need funds for supplies, events to reintroduce the community to the Senior Center activities, and to update amenities to create a more welcoming environment. The My Story Project is in need of technology upgrades. $15,000 would be of great assistance in this program.

Production of Viewpoint Newspaper. The effort to save the school building led to the creation of a neighborhood group, initially called Sierra School Neighborhood Association, and later named Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association (SCNA) to band together and organize its residents for various causes affecting the neighborhood. SCNA initiated the Viewpoint in 1979 and for 45 years Viewpoint has been the publication of the Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association and serves as the public record of the neighborhood, chronicling life and issues in Curtis Park, mostly through volunteer editors, writers, photographers and distributors, along with important support from local businesses (advertisers). Over its history, Viewpoint has reported on critical matters of importance to the welfare of the neighborhood. In the 1980s there was extensive reporting when the federal government declared a health hazard from contaminated soils in the Union Pacific railyard built in the early 20th century. Research and reporting on this issue encouraged the removal and cleanup of these toxics ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency. SCNA’s railyard committee continued to mobilize and report monthly progress on the toxics removal for almost 20 years. As Dennis Renault wrote, Viewpoint has become a “powerful little paper” delivered to approximately 2,500 households and local businesses 10 months per year. It is personally distributed at the first of each month and provided in digital format and on social media, all at no cost to the reader. It has become the essential nucleus by which the Curtis Park neighborhood knows itself and is known by others throughout Sacramento. With its dedicated neighborhood base, Viewpoint’s topics include news issues that Curtis Park residents care about, neighbor profiles, new businesses, Sierra 2 Center activities and matters of the SCNA Board of Directors. Viewpoint has remained focused on its mission to provide necessary information on events, people, and neighborhood and city-wide issues, all of which help keep Curtis Park an attractive and beloved Sacramento neighborhood. This program requires $15,000-$25,000.

Volunteer service time and expertise are needed to help us with the events, Senior Center operations, The Learnery, filming and editing for the My Story project, and assist with SCNA's new community endeavors on Racial Justice and Clean & Quiet Yard Care.