Bayside is proud to be featured among Preby’s Foundation photo essay series, People de San Diego, which documents organizations that develop and support our diverse community. Bria Lamb, Food Educator, is one of dozens of local teachers who has been mentored and trained by Bayside’s Amy Zink to unlock and magnify their potential as garden educators. See all photos and read Bria’s full interview here.
"Spotlight On The Community" is the longest running community podcast in the country, continuously hosted by Drew Schlosberg for 19 years. "Spotlight" is part of Cloudcast Media's line-up of powerful local podcasts, telling the stories, highlighting the people, and celebrating the gravitational power of local organizations and leaders.
On March 20, 2025, Kim Heinle, Executive Director of the Bayside Community Center, and Demi Brown, Founder and Director of the Empower Language Academy, met with Drew to discuss the impactful collaboration of their organizations in the diverse Linda Vista community. Heinle and Brown spoke about women leaders in Linda Vista; Empower's Community Engagement Initiative; and Bayside's impact in the neighborhood.
Courtesy of The Linda Vista Update
In observance of Women’s History Month (March), the office of Assemblyperson Chris Ward (Assembly District 79) recently honored four women from across the district who serve the community in their own special way. One of the women was Kim Heinle, who serves as Executive Director of Bayside Community Center here in Linda Vista. As stated in Ward’s web site, “Crediting the amazing staff of Bayside for the work she is able to accomplish, Kim is an extremely dedicated leader who is always involved in Bayside's program management.” You can learn more about Kim and one of the other women recognized by viewing a brief video posted on the Assemblyperson’s Instagram.
The LV Update first wrote about Kim Heinle in the May 27, 2021 issue of this newsletter.
On January 10, 2025, members of Bayside leadership were interviewed by Drew Schlosberg and Kristen Fogel on Spotlight on the Community, the longest running community podcast in the nation. They discussed the Center's ability to adapt to the ever-changing needs in the Linda Vista community; community projects; and its myriad of community outreach efforts. Listen to the full interview here.
Food insecurity is a systemic and intergenerational issue facing Linda Vista, one of San Diego’s most diverse and socio-economically distressed communities.
“When we look at the impact that food insecurity is having not only on people’s physical and mental health, but also on their ability to succeed in school and maximize their potential in the workforce, we truly see the scope of the problem,” comments Adam Osorio, Bayside Community Center’s Associate Director of Communications. “This type of self-perpetuating problem only gets worse over time unless a systemic solution is created,” he adds.
Bayside and partners are pioneering one such solution by converting a third of an acre of San Diego City Parks and Recreation property into a community garden.
“We’re really excited to have helped develop this first-of-its-kind initiative,” says Kim Heinle, Bayside’s Executive Director. “Now that we’ve created a model for how this work can be done we want to leverage our experience to support other communities throughout the region as they seek to address food insecurity in a systemic and sustainable way,” she adds.
Watch and listen to ABC 10News interview Amy Zink, Program Manager of Bayside’s Environmental Learning Center about the community garden here.
“This community garden will be so much more than just a beautiful green space in the community or an educational hub to address food insecurity in Linda Vista. This garden will be a model for many other communities throughout the city to grow food locally and sustainably.”
Photo credit: Some photos by John Cocozza Photography. Ariel footage by Avery Cramer.
On Saturday, December 16, 2023, Bayside Community Center and several community partners, including San Diego Parks Foundation, officially broke ground on the first-ever community garden to be developed in an existing city of San Diego park. This project is the first to make use of a 13-year-old policy that allows for public space, such as local city parks, to support community gardens.
The Director of the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department, Andy Field, commented, “This transformative project will bring about food opportunities for many who need it and also will demonstrate how easy it is to garden within your own community.”
Amy Zink, Bayside’s Environmental Learning Center Program Manager, who was recognized during the ceremony for her leadership in the community, explained, “Gardens like this third-of-an-acre space are an important part of addressing food insecurity because they allow for more produce to be grown locally. They also serve as a training-ground for residents to learn skills that can be used to continue growing their own food at home or on-site.”
Regarding Amy, City Councilmember Raul Campillo, added, “There’s nobody who makes more food, brings more people together, [or] teaches more children about this part of the miracle of gardening than you.”
Mayor Todd Gloria also remarked, “This has been a community-led effort and it takes an organization that has the trust of the community to be able to do that. Bayside Community Center has been doing hard and important work in this neighborhood for a very long time.”
Regarding this historic project, Kim Heinle, Bayside Community Center’s Executive Director, concluded, “This community garden will be so much more than just a beautiful green space in the community or an educational hub to address food insecurity in Linda Vista. This garden will be a model for many other communities throughout the city to grow food locally and sustainably.”
As reported by Times of San Diego, “Bayside Community Center, a Linda Vista community-based nonprofit with a 90-year legacy, will operate and manage the Linda Vista Community Garden when completed next year. The Linda Vista Community Garden was previously housed onsite at Bayside Community Center from 2011-2017. The center has been working to find a new home for the garden over the past six years.”
Read more news coverage of this event provided by Christy Simeral writing for Fox 5 San Diego and Roma Chang writing for Hoodline.
Since 2020, Bayside Community Center has partnered with Produce Good, a non-profit organization committed to finding sustainable solutions to alleviate hunger, reclaim and repurpose waste and promote the health and well-being of all.
This partnership has resulted in providing over 31,980 pounds of fresh produce to Linda Vista residents through Bayside’s weekly food distributions. Join CBS’s Jeff Zevely to learn more about this work.
In addition to these services, learn how Bayside is addressing food insecurity with education and advocacy here.
Bayside has been a community hub for those in Linda Vista to get what they need - including food. Watch and read the full article here.
We are proud to work with San Diego Foundation, Access Inc. and San Diego Co-Harvest Foundation to expand job training and opportunities for Green Workforce development. Over the course of the next 12 months, we'll be working together to train new workers and leaders in this important sector. Read the full article here: www.sdfoundation.org/news-events/sdf-news
SAN DIEGO County health officials are warning of a “tripledemic” this winter as cases of flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID are expected to rise reports Fox 5 San Diego.
County health workers are hoping to get ahead of the “tripledemic” by putting on free flu shot clinics where people can get a shot without even making an appointment.
Bayside Community Center hosted one such clinic in an effort to help keep community members healthy ahead of looming flu season.
“We recognize that every person that comes through is now a person that is protected and that makes for a safer healthier community which is what we want,” noted Bayside Community Center Executive Director Kim Heinle.
Our vision is a city where every neighborhood has access to abundant resources that promote community connection and economic self-sufficiency, expand educational and cultural opportunities; and facilitate healthy living and general well-being.
It is extremely important to our organization that this is accomplished while preserving the cultural identity and moving the economic needle in one of San Diego’s most diverse communities – Linda Vista.
Bayside Community Center
2202 Comstock Street | San Diego, CA 92111
PO Box 712525 | San Diego, CA 92171-2525
Telephone: 858.278.0771 | Email: baysideinfo@baysidecc.org
Bayside Community Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity (tax ID# 95-1652902).
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