Bernal Heights, Let’s Show Up for One City Day – July 11th
There’s something different about a neighborhood that takes care of itself. You can feel it walking down a street where someone’s clearly been tending the planters, where the stairway mosaic still gleams, where the corner lot has a bench instead of a pile of trash. That’s not an accident, it’s the result of neighbors deciding, over and over, to spend a Saturday morning making their block a little better.
That’s exactly what One City Day, happening Saturday, July 11th, is all about. It’s a citywide day of hands-on volunteering, and right here in Bernal Heights, there are two great ways to get involved.
Tompkins Stairs Eco-Refresh
Tucked into the hillside, the Tompkins Stairs are one of Bernal’s quiet treasures — a mosaic-tiled stairway that doubles as neighborhood art. This event is about tending to the native plants along the stairway and giving the mosaic hillside the cleanup it deserves. If you’ve ever walked past and thought, “someone should really take care of this,” that someone can be you for a morning.
RSVP for Tompkins Stairs Eco-Refresh →
Cortland Daylighting
Over at Cortland and Moultrie, neighbors are in the middle of an ongoing community corner activation, and July 11th is Part 2. Volunteers will help install community seating, work on structural greening, and bring in neighborhood art. It’s a great chance to see a forgotten corner transform into a place people actually want to gather.
RSVP for Cortland Daylighting →
Why It’s Worth Your Saturday
You don’t need special skills or tools, just a couple of hours and a willingness to get a little dirty. These projects work because enough people show up, not because any one person does something extraordinary. Bring water, wear clothes you don’t mind getting messy, and maybe bring a neighbor who’s never been to one of these before.
Bernal Heights has always taken pride in being a neighborhood that pitches in. July 11th is another chance to prove it. Pick a site, RSVP, and we’ll see you there.
Bernal Heights Calendar
Mike Doherty serves as Chief Experience Officer at Greening Projects, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming underutilized urban spaces into vibrant green areas
