Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 52.64
Liaison Patrice Langevin
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

Pitzer College
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Milan Stijepovic
Asst Director of Sustainability
Facilities
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
Ontario Wheelhouse

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? :
No

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe?:
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership?:
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? :
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability:

The Wheelhouse is a bicycle cooperative founded in 2010 at the Casa Pitzer formerly known as the Pitzer In Ontario house. During peak
seasons, the Wheelhouse serves 100 people per month and maintains several programs through community
partnerships. Participants include house-less individuals, immigrant workers, and youth, most of whom are low income.
Services include build-a-bike programs, bike safety and maintenance education. Doors are open to the
public three days per week for free instruction and bike maintenance, with specialized programs taking place
outside of regular Wheelhouse hours. PIO interns for the Wheelhouse assist Urban Fellow Erin Gurley (Wheelhouse
Coordinator) to staff Wheelhouse shifts, and to conduct outreach at several locations, including Department of
Parks and Rec for a youth build-a-bike program, the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, and the STRIVE center
for holistic healing. Students conduct safety or maintenance workshops, create promotional materials for the
Wheelhouse, and coordinate events. Interns attend meetings with regional bike advocacy groups and coalitions.
Research includes mapping and community-based planning efforts around bike facilities development in the City of Ontario

https://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Ontario_Wheel_House
you can also find them on facebook


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Warehouse workers of the Inland Empire

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (2nd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (2nd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (2nd partnership):
Sustainability-related

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (2nd partnership):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):

While the warehouse workers of the Inland Empire play a crucial role in our global economy,they often work for
temp agencies and endure severe injustices. Warehouse Workers United is a labor organizing group working to
fight for better jobs, higher wages, affordable healthcare, better working conditions, and the freedom to choose a
union. Past PIO interns have collected data to help WWU build a case against wage theft from warehouse workers
and a white paper documenting deplorable working conditions in Inland Empire warehouses.
Interns will attend worker meetings and actions, act as liaisons between WWU and Pitzer College, help WWU
organizers collect data for their organizing efforts, and help provide services such as English language classes to
the warehouse worker community served by WWU. Research will help WWU collect data for their policy and
legislative work to better working conditions for warehouse workers.


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Huerta Del Valle

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (3rd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (3rd partnership):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):

Huerta del Valle is a community garden and urban agriculture project in Ontario that has grown out of collaboration between the Pitzer in Ontario program and community members. The project is supported by the City of Ontario and
a partnership of organizations working to improve community health through comprehensive environmental,educational, policy and promotional strategies.
The Huerta del Valle project offers interns a diverse range of opportunities including community organizing; outreach
and promotion; urban farming; setup, support and maintenance of community plots; documentation; story-gathering
and blogging. Research will focus on the experiences of participants in the community garden and may be used to
evaluate success of the project for grant funding purposes, to publicize and promote Huerta del Valle and/or to
affect policy decisions regarding local food systems.
https://www.huertadelvalle.org/


A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:
---

Website URL where information about the institution’s community partnerships to advance sustainability is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The aforementioned sustainability partnerships are projects of Pitzer in Ontario, a justice-oriented, interdisciplinary program in urban studies and community-based research. With theoretical foundations in the social sciences and a strong emphasis on experiential education, the program allows students to understand regional impacts of globalization and to engage in local social change efforts. These efforts are informed by long-standing relationships with community organizations, city agencies, and non-profits, and also by Ontario’s community organizing wing, which works with local youth organizers to identify and address pressing community issues.
Pitzer in Ontario students can pick from several applied, long-term action research opportunities to fulfill their 150-hour internship requirement. Students may participate in a PIO-initiated project or work with an established group that organizes and conducts campaigns to improve local communities.


The aforementioned sustainability partnerships are projects of Pitzer in Ontario, a justice-oriented, interdisciplinary program in urban studies and community-based research. With theoretical foundations in the social sciences and a strong emphasis on experiential education, the program allows students to understand regional impacts of globalization and to engage in local social change efforts. These efforts are informed by long-standing relationships with community organizations, city agencies, and non-profits, and also by Ontario’s community organizing wing, which works with local youth organizers to identify and address pressing community issues.
Pitzer in Ontario students can pick from several applied, long-term action research opportunities to fulfill their 150-hour internship requirement. Students may participate in a PIO-initiated project or work with an established group that organizes and conducts campaigns to improve local communities.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.