Partner Spotlight: Wenatchee River Institute & Sustainable NCW

A Thriving Natural World Starts Here: Local Partners Leading the Way

There’s something powerful about stepping outside and feeling connected to the place you call home. For many of us, spending time outdoors is part of daily life, and in North Central Washington we are lucky to be surrounded by landscapes that make it easy to pause, breathe, and reconnect.

Enjoying these spaces is part of what makes them special. Caring for them is what keeps them that way.

Wenatchee River Institute (WRI) and Sustainable NCW (SNCW) are two of our partners doing essential work in this space to ensure our communities have access to a thriving natural world.

Their work looks different at first glance, but together they tell a bigger story. One brings people into nature, creating opportunities to appreciate our natural resources, learn about its history, and find community. The other focuses on how we care for it, helping people understand the simple choices we can make today to support sustainability for future generations. Together, they are building a healthier, more resilient region for all of us.

Connecting People to Place

At WRI, everything begins with a simple belief: The greatest hope for the future is to connect people, communities, and the natural world.

Youth programs play a central role in this work. When young people connect with nature early in life, it sparks something lasting. They begin to see themselves as part of the natural world, with a role to play in caring for it.

Through day camps, field trips, and after school programs, WRI encourages students to learn by doing. They explore, experiment, and develop new skills in ways that feel real and engaging while also building a relationship with the world around them.

WRI is committed to making sure all students across North Central Washington can have these experiences, regardless of their background or the resources available to them. Their Traveling Naturalist in the Classroom program reduces barriers by bringing environmental education directly into fourth and fifth grade classrooms across the region, with special attention to schools serving low income communities and students of color.

Each month, a Traveling Naturalist visits the classroom, bringing lessons to life. The experience builds toward a field day at the Wenatchee River Institute campus or a nearby natural area. For many students, it is a chance to see their learning come alive in a new way. For some, it is their first time truly connecting with the outdoors.

The program has been running successfully for years, but recent state funding cuts have created uncertainty about the program’s future. With support from Thriving Together NCW through the 2025 Vital Conditions grant, Wenatchee River Institute received $30,000 to continue this work into the coming school year. This grant, along with other philanthropic efforts will help open the door to curiosity, confidence, and a deeper sense of belonging in the natural world for nearly 700 students.

"We refuse to let a school’s budget and diminishing state and federal funding determine a child’s access to nature, so we are stepping in to cover these costs ourselves. This grant is pivotal to serving students throughout North Central Washington," said Canuche Terranella, Executive Director at WRI.

WRI also brings this sense of connection to the broader community. Their 13 acre campus along the Wenatchee River is open and welcoming to all. It is a place where kids can explore, families can reconnect, and neighbors can gather. You might walk the trails, attend an event, or simply enjoy the scenery.

What’s coming up next at WRI?

From cultural storytelling with the p’squosa (Wenatchi) band to seed swaps, river cleanups, and a community garden, people of all ages and walks of life are invited to enjoy the programming at WRI. If you’re looking for a way to experience this for yourself, consider attending an upcoming event or experience such as the 2026 Annual Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest or a night of stargazing at the International Dark Sky Celebration.

Browse the full list of community programming and events here.

Turning Awareness into Action

As important as it is to connect with and understand the natural world around us, it’s equally as important to care for it, ensuring future generations can continue enjoying the places we love today. And that care doesn’t have to be complicated. It can start with small, everyday choices.

This is SNCW’s wheelhouse. Since 2017, the organization has been helping people better understand the environmental challenges we face and offering simple yet meaningful ways to take action. Their approach focuses on upstream solutions and making sustainable choices more accessible for everyone.

Over the past year, SNCW has significantly expanded its reach, deepened its impact, and strengthened its relationships with key partners. To support this continued growth and momentum, Thriving Together NCW awarded the organization $20,000 through the 2025 Vital Conditions Grant for their Empowering Sustainable Change through Education and Engagement project.

"Sustainable NCW provides our community, at no cost, with vetted, locally relevant sustainability education and resources, and advocates for regional sustainability initiatives. The Thriving Together NCW Vital Conditions grant helps bolster this important work,” shared Marlene Farrell, Sustainable NCW’s Executive Director.

One of SNCW’s core areas of focus is reducing waste. It sounds simple, but it can often feel overwhelming or confusing. SNCW is taking the guesswork out of the process with their Waste Wizard tool. Accessible through their website, anyone can search for an item and within seconds the Waste Wizard will tell you how to reuse, recycle, or properly dispose of it in Chelan and Douglas counties. To help more people discover this resource and feel confident using it, they’re working on an exciting new video series featuring short, bilingual, PSA style clips. The series is set to launch later this year, so stay tuned!

Beyond the Waste Wizard, locals are sure to see SNCW helping coordinate Towards Zero Waste efforts at local events like Rails & Ales and Fiestas Mexicanas. SNCW is also playing a key role in educating local businesses on how and why they need to divert their organic materials due to new WA State laws.

Their partnerships are also growing in meaningful ways. In collaboration with CAFÉ (Community for the Advancement of Family and Equity), they launched a bilingual after school bike program last fall. Expanding far beyond learning how to ride, the multi-week course builds skills, confidence, and independence. Students learn road safety, basic bike repair, and even how to put parts of a bike together. At the end of the program, each participant receives their own bike, along with a helmet, lock, and lights.

SNCW also routinely hosts a variety of events, creating opportunities for community members to learn, ask questions, and feel inspired. A few examples include community presentations and panels, bike repair workshops for individuals of all ages through the Sustainable Bike CoOp, and their annual Earth Day Fair.

What’s coming up next at SNCW?

In partnership with Chelan County and Our Valley Our Future, (OVOF), Sustainable NCW is hosting the Chelan County Resilience Summit on April 16th at the Wenatchee Convention Center. This one day event is designed to blend data-driven assessments with real-world implementation, link local needs to available funding programs, and facilitate cross-sector partnerships. Participants will leave with actionable opportunities to connect and build resilience in Chelan County. Following the summit, they’re hosting their annual Earth Day Fair on the 18th at the Wenatchee Valley College campus.

A Shared Vision for a Thriving Natural World

What connects all of this work is a shared understanding that a thriving natural world does not happen by accident. It is built through relationships, learning from each other, and working together to take action. Together, WRI and SNCW are strengthening one of the core conditions that allows communities to thrive.

And that is exactly what the Vital Conditions Grant is designed to support. By investing in upstream solutions that address root causes and build long-term wellbeing, we are not just funding programs. We are helping create the conditions for healthier, more connected communities across North Central Washington.

How You Can Be Part of It

There are so many ways to get involved. You can attend a community event, volunteer your time, or participate in a program. You can learn how to reduce waste, explore new ways to get around, or simply spend more time outside and notice what is around you. Every action, big or small, contributes to a thriving natural world.

To learn more about this vital condition, explore Thriving Together NCW’s regional report and be sure to register for our upcoming learning session this April where we will highlight even more partners doing incredible work in this space.