OC Habitats

The mission of OC Habitats (OCH) is to provide a public service for the many habitats of Orange County, California through conservation efforts, rehabilitation, restoration, education, outreach, volunteerism, monitoring, and partnering with other entities whose goal is to promote the preservation, conservation, and restoration of natural habitats and the species therein.

OC Habitats (OCH) was founded in July 2017 and is based on the clear need for more habitat protection throughout the county.

Our first goal, which spreads across all of our projects and programs is education and outreach. We at OCH believe that knowledge is power and the more individuals we can empower the better off our environment will be. We educate the general public during field trips, guided hikes, restoration events, outreach events, our website, and social media platforms. We also provide habitat education programs to public, private, and home schools in and around Orange County on campus and as field trips. Our goal is to be active in most of the habitat types in Orange County and to provide a vital service to the public in these areas.

The next branch of our mission was the impetus of the founding of OCH. Our founders felt that areas in Orange County needed more monitoring and data to support the protection of both the habitats and the species that already exist or need restoration. OCH has partnered with various nonprofit and government agencies, such as OC Coastkeepers, LUSH Cosmetics, Sea and Sage Audubon, Bolsa Chica Conservancy, USFWS, CDFW, California Coastal Commission,OC Parks, Cities of Santa Ana, Mission Viejo, and Newport Beach, Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy, Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center, Project Grow, and California State Parks, to support the furtherance of these protections. Our trained habitat/species monitors collect data and share results with key players to ensure healthy and viable habitat and species populations for years to come.

The final sector of our mission is restoration. In 2019, we began to make an impact in earnest here in Orange County. We have helped restore wetlands, and riparian habitats in Huntington and Newport Beaches and coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitats in the cities of Santa Ana, Tustin, Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Orange.

All three of the branches come together to make OC Habitats. We strive to make our local habitats, county, state, country, and world a better place one person and one event at a time.

OC Habitats strives to expand our environmental programs throughout the county to cover more habitats, more species, and to stay abreast of the ever-changing issues and impacts caused by climate change and global warming. We managed to learn many new skills during the pandemic and have been able to incorporate them into existing and new programs in all areas of our work. We provide expanded hybrid programs to enhance our in person work and provide flexibility of access depending on the needs of the intended group. We are work with public schools in Garden Grove, Lake Forest, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Irvine, Santa Ana, Mission Viejo, Dana Point, and Ladera Ranch, local homeschool groups, and our partners including OC Coastkeepers, Girls Scouts of Orange County, Scouts of America, Saddleback College, and local cities.

We continue to provide education and public outreach through our Coffee & Conservation Outreach Events, which focuses on environmental topics. These are provided through our newly launched podcast (Spotify), our website, and in-person events throughout the year. These discussions include information about our local habitats, species, and environmental issues as well as regional, state, federal and global topics including species and habitat spotlights, fast fashion, recycling, energy, and sustainable practices. We also have a variety of like-minded partners that we work with and will often spotlight them on our website and social media along with our amazing volunteers.

We continue to work diligently on a sustainability and strategic plan to move us into the future in a positive way and we continue to work with this plan by updating it each year. We have worked and continue to work with a variety of professionals, mentors, and our own board to create a plan that will provide greater success in the coming years. We continue to recruit board members as needed with a variety of backgrounds and skills as continue to search for staff to support our work and capacity. We have expanded our internship program to include more schools and the Californians for All program (College Corp). We have found our home office in Santa Ana (2023) where our staff, interns, and volunteers can collaborate and work on our programs and projects.

As we look forward, we hope to continue to grow partnerships with like-minded organizations, expand our programs to more Title 1 schools, and increase our impact in restoration in more areas of Orange County. We feel incredibly fortunate to have the support of the community to help us forge ahead and achieve our important goals for conservation here in Orange County, California.

Most Pressing Needs for OCH in 2026
1. Associate Director Staff (1-Fulltime) ($60K)
2. Funding for part-time program staff (20-30 hours/week - 4 staff) - $150K
3. Administrative Staff (Part time - bookkeeping, HR) - $30K
4. Fundraising Director (includes Grant Writing and Marketing) ($20K)
5. Executive Director ($75K)

The above list is in order of need to ensure our programs are consistent and reliable. Have the first two will lighten the load of the Executive Director and allow her/him to continue to seek funds to cover other expenses while knowing that their mission and goals of environmental advocacy and programming are solid.

We currently serve all of Orange County, California. Most of our works centers in Orange, Tustin, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Mission Viejo, Anaheim, Fountain Valley, and all the coastal cities from Seal Beach to San Clemente. We hope to serve more of our Orange County city's as our staff, administration and capacity grows. We also do some work outside the County such as LA, Riverside, and San Diego Counties.

I am excited about how we have grown and increased our impact over the last few years and am always thrilled when we get a call from an educator, student, environmentalist, or anyone that heard about us through the "environmental grapevine" and is excited about our mission. As we look to the future, we will continue to refine our sustainability and strategic plan, find ways to keep our current staff and add more to ensure our programs and projects are consistent, contain current and important content, and help towards our mission of habitat conservation and protection. It has been my profound pleasure and honor to work with so many passionate volunteers and staff and learn so much from them. Many of our people go well above and beyond the call of duty and, often times, are volunteering with more than one organization and/or cause: I feel fortunate that they have chosen OCH. The passion and enthusiasm that these people bring to OCH is what fuels our journey. We look to the future with great hope and anticipation that we can continue our work in all of our mission areas and that our work will make an even greater impact for the conservation of habitats and species in Orange County and beyond.

2017-2025 - Stacey Chartier-Grable (same as ED above)
2025-2026 - New Board President - Cheryl Dyas