YES Nature to Neighborhoods is a dynamic leadership development organization that nurtures leaders of all ages through nature-centered learning. Over the past 27 years, more than 13,000 Richmond community members have engaged with YES’s leadership pathways. As a result, they have reclaimed their connection to the earth; deepened their sense of confidence and belonging; and built both personal well-being and community power.
YES has thoughtfully grown the scope and scale of our programs to meet community needs while operating from a rented facility across the street from Richmond’s largest city park. In 2021, when the option to buy this facility arose, our answer was a resounding “yes.” This purchase has secured a permanent place for YES in Richmond in a time when many nonprofits have been priced out.
Now our need and opportunity is to make this place a home: a base camp where leaders of all ages can gather, learn, and grow. Our goal by 2027 is to transform our cramped, aging facility into a spacious, nature-inspired hub for our growing community. We have raised $6.1 million to date, over 76% of our $8M campaign goal. Below is a video of our vision and preliminary renderings of our new building.
Hannah Shulman, nature + nurture (N2) Program Director at The 11th Hour Project / Schmidt Family Foundation
“YES is situated and invested in the Richmond community and attends to entire families. Few organizations develop a sense of place and community pride to move the needle on long term societal issues like YES does.”
Eric Aaholm, YES Executive Director, and Blanca Hernández, YES Director of Programs and Partnerships
“Everyone deserves the chance to thrive from the health benefits that nature provides. Everyone also deserves to have people around them who support their positive development. That’s what this campaign is all about – making sure that Richmond youth and families have a Base Camp – a gathering place from which they can access the outdoors and harness their strengths.”
The Building
Campaign Updates
Sign up for the Base Camp newsletter here.
The City of Richmond has approved our Building Permit! Our team has also completed plans for Base Camp’s lighting, security, and solar and have made initial decisions on interior design including flooring, cabinet finishes, and furniture layouts and will move into landscape design next. To ensure financial barriers don’t stand in the way of completing construction once it has begun, we will be securing bank financing as a contingency.
Spring has started off incredibly strong in regard to fundraising, pushing us past the $6M mark! We’re planning a couple of tours of the future Base Camp site between now and our groundbreaking later this spring. Led by youth and alumni in YES’s Youth Leadership Pathway, these gatherings offer supporters a chance to walk the space, hear directly from YES participants, and explore ways to get involved and bring the campaign across the finish line—if you’re interested in joining, please reach out to Devika Saxena.
Updated 4/6/26
Other ways to support:
Make a pledge
Make a gift from your donor advised fund
Make a gift of stock or securities
Download Securities Transfer Form
For questions or more information about supporting the Base Camp Capital Campaign, contact
Campaign Donors
Thank you to our generous donors for making YES’s Base Camp possible. To meet a few of our supporters and hear what inspires them to give, click here.
Leadership Gifts $250,000+
Anonymous
Susan & Steve Chamberlin
Hellman Foundation
Joseph & Vera Long Foundation
Yield Giving
Leadership Gifts $100,000 - 249,999
Anonymous (3)
The Campbell Foundation
William G. Irwin Charity Foundation
Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation
Livable Communities Trust
Meadow Fund
Schmidt Family Foundation
Leadership Gifts $50,000 - $99,999
Lampert Byrd Fund
Outpour Charitable Advisors
Major Gifts $25,000 - $49,999
Brickyard Family Fund
Kate Campbell & Brian King
James & Shari Ough
Tom Stahl & Julie Kim
Susan Swift
Susan Wittenberg
Jabeen Yusef & David Messina
Major Gifts $10,000 - $24,999
June & Julian Foss Foundation
Lisa & Paul Hammon
Marion Henon & Todd Hodson
Mark Knoerr
Leigh Marz & Michael Ziegler
Mike & Laura McLively
Owen & Toki Oakley
Tom Panas
Malcolm & Ann Plant
Cynthia Sharpe & Bob Van Scoy
John Weiss & Alison Stone
Zelnik Family
Special Gifts $5,000 - $9,999
Graham Chisholm & Tania Balazs
Jean Hyams & Cindy Maxim
Peter Roopnarine & Carol Tang
Karen Weil & Mark Morris
Special Gifts $2,500 - $4,999
Hidden Leaf Foundation
Ann Higgins & Ricky Freed
Ami & Stephen Orr
Francis Tompkins
Special & Community Gifts Up to $2,499
Rebecca Cannon
Tim Huffner & Karen Wittenberg
Julie Leftwich
Constance Lively
David Loeb
Janice & Gerry Prudhomme
Justin Rodriguez
Michael F. Sabarese
Linda Safarik-Tong & Roger Tong
Susan Springborg & Greg Martin
Kate Webster
Sandy Weil
We’d like to extend a sincere and special thanks to our Campaign Leadership Committee who helped see the Base Camp campaign through its start and first $5M raised:
Mike McLively (Chair)
Sonya Watson-Bailey
James Ough
Cynthia Sharpe
Vanessa Baker-Rodriguez
Todd Hodson
Diane Poslosky