MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS

FINANCIAL REPORT

PASSPORTS

MILE A DAY

PARK RX

GREEN STREETS

DESIGN CHALLENGE

HIGHLIGHTS

BOARD & STAFF

comealiveoutside.com PO Box 267Rutland, VT 05702

ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Come Alive Outside is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that works closely with partners in healthcare, public health, outdoor recreation and the landscape profession in order to get people off the couch and back outside in communities across North America.

MISSIONTo inspire collaborative community systems that create the awareness, intention and opportunity for people to live healthier lives outside.

VISIONHealthy individuals, families and communities enjoying the full benefits of great outdoor spaces where they live, work and play.

FIVE PRINCIPLES1) Get active outside2) Grow something you can eat3) Learn with your hands in the soil4) Connect with nature5) Play unplugged

OUR WHYChildren today spend over seven hours a day looking at screens and half as much time outside as they did in 1980. The numbers are even worse for adults, and this replacement of time in nature with screen time is having a profound impact on our mental and physical well-being.

22

3

Dear Friends, I grew up in a time before cell phones and the internet. If I wasn’t at school, I was outside. I was a happy child who usually had scrapes on my knees, dirt underneath my fingernails and sap in my hair. As I entered adulthood, technology advanced, cell phones became the norm, and we all started to become constantly connected to the internet. I felt my own relationship to the natural world subside, and I realized the direct connection between spending time outside and my sense of wellbeing. In 2019, I made a decision to prioritize the outdoors in my life and to help others do the same. I found Come Alive Outside, an organization that was successfully implementing outdoor wellness interventions and actively looking to increase its capacity by hiring additional leadership to help advance its mission. By the end of the year, I was brought on as Executive Director of Come Alive Outside to work in partnership with a brilliant founder and a skilled and dedicated board of directors. I am honored and energized to lead this organization into its next phase! The health and wellness benefits of nature are needed now more than ever! We live in a time where Americans spend an average of 11 hours on screens and 93% of their time indoors. This replacement of time in nature with screen time is having a profound impact on our mental and physical well-being. Spending time in the outdoors has shown to be effective to increase physical activity, lower blood pressure, boost creativity, and to lower stress and symptoms of depression. Designing nature back into our lives is at the core of everything we do at Come Alive Outside. By creating opportunities and intention around spending time outside, we are successfully improving public health and quality of life in the communities we serve. Thanks to the support and dedication of our 117 community partners and donors, Come Alive Outside reached more than 30,000 people across North America with our programs in 2019. Looking ahead, we are committed to expanding the impact of Come Alive Outside. As you review this annual report, I hope you celebrate our shared accomplishments and keep in mind that your support is vital to making this work possible. With the generous support of donors and partners like you, we will continue to bring the health and wellness benefits of nature to communities in fun, innovative and meaningful ways!

Thank you,

Arwen Turner, Executive Director

MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS!A to Z Impact FoundationBen & Jerry’s FoundationBowse Health TrustBrydges Landscape ArchitectureCasellaCarpenter & Costin Community Health of Rutland Region Frank Webb HomeGelderman LandscapesGreeniusHeritage Family Credit UnionJP HorizonsLandscape OntarioMKF PropertiesOntario Hort. Trades FoundationRed Empress FoundationRutland Regional Medical CenterStrauser Nature’s HelpersShoot AwayTable 24Unilock

U.S. Dept. of AgricultureVermont Dept. of HealthVermont Governor’s Council

on Physical FitnessVNA & HospiceWentworth Landscapes

Michael AlbertKirstin AnastasiaCarolyn AndersonBeth ArndstenDave AthertonJeffrey BowenJudd BryarlyHenry BuderJeanetta A CampbellJonathan CaponMary CohenMarie CoombsLinda CoorsStephen Corrigan

Carol CoulterBurt DeMarcheDickson DeMarcheJohn DinsmorePaul GillettSarah GilstrapDana HodgkinsonBrad JohnsonNancy KimmelVicki LawRonald LesterLauren LevittRonald LongPeg LucciRobert MaffeiRuss MarsanJames McCutcheonJay MiddletonSusan MilheimSteve & Wanda MouzonSarah Narkewicz

Kevin NaussKathy NemethDarryl NewmanJim & Beth PaluchTaylor & Calvin PaluchDianna PategasAra PennyMike ReganKara Richardson WhitelyMichael RorieLiana RosenmanAnthony SellersJennifer SextonSusan StelfoxPam ThompsonEd & Marcia TurnerJody TurnerJon Vander VlietCari WeberDave & Tiffini Wittwer

7,720Passports

1,106Mile a Day

154Park RX

21,000Green Streets

244Design Challenge

2019 BY THE NUMBERS

30,244Total Program Participants

2019 FINANCIALS

$245,651+

$260,516-

Total Revenue

Total Expenditures

117Total Community Partner Organizations

Total U.S.REVENUE

Total U.S.EXPENDITURES

Total CanadaEXPENDITURES

$209,446

$217,605

$42,911

Admin:$38,730

Admin: $1,554

Vermont Programs: $137,252 National

Programs: $17,268

Marketing and Fundraising: $24,355

Ontario Progams: $41,357

Vermont Individual Donors: $1,103

Vermont Corporate Sponsors: $55,438

Vermont Grants: $111,119

National Individual Donors: $7,359

National Grants: $500

National Corporate Sponsors: $33,927

Canada Corporate Sponsors: $28,663

Canada Grants: $7,543

Total CanadaREVENUE$36,205

4

5

7,720

35%

74%

72%

52

Students Reached

Participation Rate

Children more excited about Physical Activity

Families that increased Physical Activity

Community Partners in Vermont

This hyper-local program gives families added incentive to stay active and take advantage of access to nearby nature. Children earn points and win prizes for visiting local parks, farmers markets and community events to complete tasks or find secret codes.

Passports are currently available to students in select regions of Vermont through funding support from Vermont Department of Health, national foundations, and local partners. In 2019, we provided passports to K-7th Grade Students in the following school districts: Addison Central School District, Bristol Elementary, Greater Rutland Central Supervisory Union, Rutland City Public Schools, Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union, Windham Southeast School District, Windham Central Supervisory Union.

PASSPORTS

2019 STATS

WHAT’S NEXT: In 2020, Come Alive Outside will utilize a newly created Implementation Toolkit to work with partners to produce passports in additional communities including Bennington, VT. We will also pilot a new passport for adults in Rutland County in partnership with the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce and support from the VT Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness. 5

2019 STATS

MILE A DAYMile a Day is a walking challenge that encourages individuals and teams from different worksites to establish and track healthy walking habits. This program is produced with support from Rutland Regional Medical Center, Rutland Community Health, Heritage Family Credit Union and other local partners in Rutland, VT. In 2019, we ran a 30 Mile Challenge in the spring, a 100 Mile Challenge in the summer and a 50 Mile Challenge in the fall.

Loved that this allowed our staff to take lunch walks

as part of our workday!

This was so inspirational and

got me moving differently than any

other summer. DAILY walking is the concept

I truly learned and have embraced.

1,106

97%

96%

17

Participants in Rutland County

Participants with positive impact on mental wellbeing

Participants who were more motivated for physical activity

Worksite Teams Engaged

“

”

”

“

6

7

2019 STATS

154 55%

» 82%» 93%

Total Referrals from Healthcare Providers in Rutland County

Participation Rate

Self-reported being more active because of program

Self-reported positive impact on mental wellbeing

Average frequency of Physical Activity post-program vs 3.2 pre-program

Average duration of Physical Activity post-program vs 28.5 pre-program

4.6

36.9

days/week

minutes/day

With support from the Bowse Health Trust, Come Alive Outside administers a Park RX program in Rutland County, VT that provides unique support to participants after they receive an outdoor prescription from their doctor. We engage cohorts of participants for 12-week intervals and support each patient with one-on-one weekly health coaching, as well as tools for tracking progress towards their goal.

PARKRX

Meets the CDC recommendation of 30 minutes/day!

WHAT’S NEXT: In 2020, Come Alive Outside will pilot a new structure of the Park RX program, utilizing a peer-to-peer support system rather than weekly health coaching. The goal is to create a replicable model that can be integrated as a worksite wellness program.

2019 STATS

12 65K

21K 41

Events in North America

Square Feet of Playspace

Participants Partner Organizations

GREEN STREETS

The Green Street Challenge creates the opportunity to celebrate the importance of outdoor play by laying down sod and creating temporary parks on prominent streets in communities across North America.

Sod producers and landscape professionals partner with local businesses and downtown associations and donate all time and materials to put on these events at no cost to the community.

After the event the sod is donated to be installed at a local park or project that will help to create a permanent green space in the community.

2019 Locations:

Thank you to the landscape companies, sod growers and community partners who made all of these great events possible!

Hamilton, ONMidland, ONBarrie, ONPicton, ON

Norwich, ONBowmanville, ONCalgary, ABWoodstock, ON

Huntsville, ONToronto, ON Rutland, VTMiddlebury, VT

8

9

DESIGN CHALLENGE

244Participating Schools:

Participants in 2019

Algonquin CollegeNiagara CollegeRyerson UniversitySeneca CollegeUniversity of GuelphWestlane Secondary SchoolSir Guy Carleton Secondary

SchoolStamford CollegiateHoly Cross Catholic

Secondary SchoolArchbishop O’Sullivan

Catholic School

The Come Alive Outside Design Challenge creates the opportunity for teams of college, high school, and elementary students to work together with landscape professionals to design and build engaging outdoor learning environments at schools and childcare facilities. In addition to creating the new spaces at the schools, one of the primary goals of this program is engaging young people in the process of designing nature into our lives through vibrant urban gardens and green spaces.

The 2019 Design Challenge was hosted in Kingston, Ontario with support from Landscape Ontario, Unilock, Wentworth Landscape, Brydges Landscape Architecture and Gelderman Landscape. This year’s program included high school students from across the province and was the single largest event design event that we have ever produced! The students at Niagara College created the winning design for the schoolyard at Archbishop O’Sullivan Elementary School.

2019 STATS

9

With the support of a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Come Alive Outside created the Pine Cone Adventure Trail, which aims to get more children and families outside, physically active, and enjoying the benefits of spending time in nature at Pine Hill Park in Rutland, VT. This project is a collaboration between Come Alive Outside, Rutland Recreation and Parks, Wonderfeet Kids Museum, the Vermont Department of Health, and the Pine Hill Partnership.

The trail consists of 12 new natural play stations along the existing trail with interesting themes and interactive play suggestions such as “Stick City”, “Stump Hop”, and “The Troll Bridge”. Over 30 volunteers from the community helped to create these stations by rearranging natural elements found in the woods and hanging a series of signs encouraging families to create their own adventures!

For families that don’t spend a great deal of time in the woods, not knowing how to engage in nature play can be a barrier to enjoying the outdoors. The exciting thing about this project is that by suggesting different types of play in different areas along the trail, it becomes a living, growing place. The more that families and kids use the space, the bigger and more interesting it will become.

In 2019, Come Alive Outside partnered with the Rutland Regional Medical Center, Wonderfeet Kid’s Museum, Carpenter & Costin Landscape and GE Aviation to grow an acre of winter squash and sunflowers with over 250 local elementary school students. This project was supported by more than 70 volunteers from the community including over 30 hospital staff. All of the produce was donated to the Vermont Foodbank.

Pine Cone Adventure Forest

RRMC Planting and Harvest Festival

OTHER 2019 HIGHLIGHTS

10

11

Russ Marsan, President

Scott Wentworth, Vice President

Michael Albert, Treasurer

Rick Geise, Secretary

Burt DeMarche, Director

Sue Milheim, Director

Tom Huebner, Director

Sarah Walker, Director

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

STAFFArwen TurnerExecutive DirectorFort Collins, CO arwen@comealiveoutside.com

Andy PaluchProgram DirectorRutland, VT andy@comealiveoutside.com

Jaya DavisProgram CoordinatorRutland, VT

Christina SweetProgram CoordinatorRutland, VT

Lissa Schoot-UiterkampProgram CoordinatorMilton, Ontario

VT STEERING COMMITTEE

ONTARIO STEERING COMMITTEE

Steve Costello, Green Mountain Power

Bethany Yon, VT Department of Health

Kimberly Griffin, UVM Extension

Russ Marsan, Carpenter and Costin

Sarah Narkewicz, UVM Medical Center

April Cioffi, Rutland Recreation and Parks

Susan Schreibman , Rutland City Planning Commission

Scott Wentworth, Wentworth Landscapes

Tony DiGiovanni, Landscape Ontario

Sally Harvey, Landscape Ontario

Jay Middleton, Wentworth Landscapes

Erin Walker, Algonquin Lakeshore Catholic District School Board

Zach Strauser, Director

Myra Peffer, Director

Jim Paluch, Chair of Advisory Board

comealiveoutside.comPO Box 267 | Rutland, VT 05702