Project overview: Ease the emotional burden facing many park employees — job instability, social isolation, and food insecurity — and increase employee retention by providing critical resources to keep staff connected, healthy, and happy.

How your support helps: Living and working in the park presents unique challenges related to current social isolation, job instability, funding and staffing cuts, general feelings of insecurity, and other burdens employees inevitably face — remote living, fires, floods, rock falls, and more. In the face of these obstacles, it’s becoming increasingly complex for employees to remain connected, healthy, and happy in their positions. In fact, a 2025 survey confirmed behavioral health as a top concern across the park, and yet, Yosemite remains a rural park with limited mental health services within 50 miles of the park’s boundaries. 

To address these concerns, the Yosemite Health and Wellness project plans to provide pathways towards education, community building, and resilience, in the hopes of enhancing employees’ sense of belonging, work-life balance, and contentment.  

Two focus areas guide the project: needs assessments and community outreach. Needs assessments will be run by the Wellness Coalition, a group that has begun identifying health-related gaps in the community and meet biweekly to identify possible efforts to meet employee needs. Employee outreach will be led by a new Health and Wellness Program intern who will target retention, health, and well-being through upstream prevention and education sessions. 

This year: In 2026, the Yosemite Health and Wellness program aims to improve employee retention, satisfaction, and overall well-being through preventative and educational outreach. With your support, the program will fund one paid intern to assist with community outreach and connection; consolidate wellness messaging for National Park Service employees; support programs that reduce stress through art, mindfulness, and outdoor experiences; address food insecurity; and build capacity by nurturing partnerships that strengthen behavioral health, safety, and stewardship.

Project partner: Yosemite National Park

 

Photo credit: Todd Borowski