On Wednesday, May 9th founder Joe Baldo, COO Geraldine Densmore and Board Member Ken Clark attended UCI’s Celebration of Community Engagement where they helped celebrate Higher Ground Board Member and UCI Professor Al Valdez.
UCI's Celebration of Community Engagement is the university's annual award ceremony that honors individuals who go above and beyond to serve the local community. Board Member Dr. Al Valdez and Founder Joe Baldo both received the Campus Community Partnership Award. This award recognizes UCI departments and organizations that collaborate to establish strong partnerships with students, faculty and staff to produce a positive impact in the community.
Higher Ground is extremely grateful for Dr. Al Valdez and all the new opportunities he has brought to Higher Ground. Because of his help and support, Higher Ground now has a semi-annual Family Health Day.
He has opened up the door for Higher Ground to build a mutually beneficial relationship with UC Irvine. Higher Ground has up to 100 UCI interns a year working with and mentoring youth. Our COO, Geraldine Densmore says that she believes Al is “one of the best partners Higher Ground could ask for. He amazes us with his generosity and we couldn’t do what we do without him”.
