Children in Isla Vista will be able to play on a safer, more interesting playground, thanks to a group project led by Leadership Santa Barbara.

The Isla Vista Youth Projects’ Children’s Center will celebrate the completion of the first phase of a major renovation of its playground with a ribbon cutting and tour of the facility at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 15. The facility is located at 6842 Phelps Road in Goleta. 

Leadership Santa Barbara, a local issue-oriented leadership development program, coordinated the first phase of the playground renovation. Project participants will be on hand to cut the ribbon and be honored for their efforts. This first phase of the playground renovation project will provide shade, improve aesthetics and create a more natural outdoor classroom environment for children. The Outdoor Classroom Project resonated with the participants in Leadership Santa Barbara Leadership, who fondly remembered their own childhood experiences.

“I feel that this project will provide the necessary hands-on, feet in the dirt, mind in the sky component to childhood development that the hundreds of kids who attend IVYP programs may otherwise go without,’’ said Mike Osborn. The playground project is part of a larger agency effort to improve the health and well-being of children by focusing on nutrition, wellness and outdoor play opportunities. In addition to the playground renovation, the Children’s Center has created a Wellness Policy to improve nutrition, is committed to training staff, and is participating in the county-wide Outdoor Classroom Project sponsored by the Orfalea Family Foundation.

The Isla Vista Youth Projects’ Children’s Center has been providing full-day year-round child care and development services to children since 1975.  The Center is licensed for 97 infants, toddlers and preschoolers, and has a vast array of scholarships for low-income children. Almost 90% of the 180 children served annually are low-income. 

The Isla Vista Youth Projects Inc. was founded in 1971 and provides free or low-cost services for community children and their families, and is supported and directed by the community.

LuAnn Miller is the director of the Isla Vista Youth Projects