On Sept. 15, a group of Redmond neighborhood volunteers will start transforming a local, neglected one-acre woodland into an urban wild space with guidance from the Adopt A Stream Foundation and the help of county and city grants.

The Stratford Village Woods Restoration project has received a $5,000 grant from the City of Redmond’s Neighborhood Matching Fund, a program that provides a dollar-for-dollar match for qualifying neighborhood-initiated improvement projects. The Stratford Village Homeowners Association also received a $4,000 grant from King County’s Wild Places in City Spaces grant program as preserving natural open spaces within urban land is a priority for county planners.

“This project aligns with King County’s vision of restoring degraded habitat for fish and wildlife within the boundaries of our urban areas,” said King County grant exchange coordinator Ken Pritchard. “We’re also fostering community stewardship through these important citizen-led projects, which offers an additional and lasting benefit to the community.”

The restoration project includes removing invasive vegetation and litter, planting native shrubs and trees, installing a walking trail and cleaning up Happy Creek — the stream that flows through the woods.

Volunteer leaders already see this project reinvigorating the 30-year-old Stratford Village neighborhood located in the Grass Lawn community.

“This woodland forms the heart of Stratford Village,” said volunteer project manager Mara Krieps in a press release. “Our vision is to transform a lovely, but bramble-filled acre into a safe and healthy recreational space for everyone in the neighborhood to enjoy. The planning process has become a fun and collaborative project for our community and, with financial help and guidance from our project partners, we’ll make our vision a reality before the end of the year.”

City of Redmond Mayor added, “Redmond’s long-term growth plan includes preserving a system of interconnected open spaces providing habitat for a variety of wildlife throughout the city and this project is a perfect example of that plan in action. On a personal level, I have wonderful childhood memories of playing in this woods and finding frogs in Happy Creek. I’m glad to know that new generations of children will have the same opportunity.”

The Adopt A Stream Foundation is providing hands-on help with invasive plant removal and technical guidance on environmental restoration and native species planting. Their work will begin on Sept. 13 and an official ground-breaking ceremony will take place on Sept. 15 at 10 a.m.

Members of the public are invited to join in the celebration and help with the hands-on woods clean-up work during that weekend and two upcoming weekends in October.

For more information on the project or to learn about volunteering opportunities, email svhoa@outlook.com or visit the Stratford Village Facebook page at www.facebook.com/StratfordVillage.