The 10-Minute Walk Campaign—a partnership between The Trust for Public Land, National Recreation and Park Association, and Urban Land Institute—Thursday announced $400,000 in grants to advance the goal of ensuring that everyone has a quality park within a 10-minute walk of home. Almost 250 mayors have signed onto the Campaign, embracing the power of parks to drive positive change in cities and address urban challenges.
The Campaign’s newly-established partnership fund will support community-based non-profits' efforts in U.S. cities where the Campaign is helping participating mayors meet commitments to expand easy and equitable access to open space. The first round of funds will be distributed to eight non-profits across five major metropolitan areas.
“Along with policymakers, community-based organizations are vital partners in bringing positive, transformational change to cities,” said Benita Hussain, director of the 10-Minute Walk Campaign. “We’re thrilled to support their collaborative efforts in making parks more accessible and building more vibrant cities across the country.”
“We all know that the best ideas for change and our best city advocates work at the community level,” said Mayor Andy Berke of Chattanooga, one of the communities to receive these grants. “I am so proud that the 10-Minute Walk Campaign is supporting our community organizations in making Chattanooga and other cities better, greener places to live.”
“We are elated to be a partnership grant recipient,” said Jazmine LeBlanc at ELLA Library, one of the eight awardees. “With these funds, we will be able to increase community use and pride of public spaces through outreach and engagement while tackling issues that prevent people from taking advantage of our public community assets to create a healthier community.
For its first year of funding, partnership grants are being awarded in five high-need geographies where community-based organizations are working to improve park access and/or quality through systems-level change, in partnership with policymakers and The Trust for Public Land’s local staff. This year’s recipients and their efforts are:
Chattanooga:
ELLA Library will connect with community members and local schools to educate on green spaces and park safety, engaging them in park activations and encouraging park participation and play. ($35,000)
Net Resource Foundation will harness the power of local faith-based community ties to strengthen people’s connections to parks. ($62,500)
Seattle Metro, WA:
Global to Local will engage South King County’s refugee population through a lens of health equity and will provide support for local leaders to advocate for improved park access, quality, and programming. ($40,000)
Latino Community Fund of Washington will provide capacity building support for five grassroots organizations around park access and social justice, resulting in a new statewide Park Advocacy Summit. ($62,500)
Denver, CO:
Bicycle Colorado will work in two neighborhoods in need of greater park access, Montbello and Westwood, in order to provide bike programming that educates children on bicycle and pedestrian safety, bicycle maintenance, and other skills, empowering youth and families to find safe routes to parks and schools in their neighborhoods. ($60,000)
Colorado Springs, CO:
Trails & Open Space Coalition will examine bicycle and pedestrian connections in the Southeast neighborhood through bicycle programs for youth as part of a larger master plan process and redesign for Panorama Park. ($30,000)
Atlanta, GA:
Park Pride will provide the technical expertise to draft conceptual plans for the city’s pilot to use area schoolyards as community green spaces and lead community engagement process at each site. ($40,000)
West Atlanta Watershed Alliance will engage community members and use key events to foster increased park advocacy and engagement. ($10,000)
The 10-Minute Walk Campaign and these grants have been made possible by generous support from The JPB Foundation.