Are You Ready for the New Sulphur Creek Nature Center?

For many of us, presents are on the horizon this holiday season. Brand new stuff brought in to replace the older, more weathered and familiar things. It can be heart-wrenching. H.A.R.D. is changing. Sulphur Creek is changing. New plans, new admin, a new business model. At Sulphur Creek, the familiar faces (volunteers and staff) are essentially gone. Animal handlers and educators (paid and voluntary) have either been removed or left on their own. The animal hospital is closed, the education side sits almost empty, the animals are getting older and more isolated.

On paper, the new plan for Sulphur Creek boasts amazing things, including the hiring of two new staff. A huge move but one that is only the act of backfilling positions left vacant by retirements and only a drop in the bucket for the hirings that still need to occur to bring the Center up to the standards advertised.

And if we look closer, Sulphur Creek is also leaning away from the beloved in-house volunteer program. One that supported traditional volunteers as well as folks with special needs and other marginalizing facets. Retired professionals, active career-people, students, often with deep family and community ties. All donate their hours tirelessly to keep the Center open, with extensive and deep community roots and generous donor-ship.

We all want our parks to survive, so we join with each other and with HARD, to make “new and improved,” not just a phrase. We will stay committed and connected to the leaders that can help our parks to make a difference. To support an ongoing commitment to supporting quality staffing and a continued dedication to the providing of experiences accessible to all.

– A Tucker, Hayward