Event Description:

 Rethinking Park Safety: Promoting Park Equity for All is about reimagining public space and sparking conversations about parks as places where everyone - regardless of income level, housing status, race, immigration status, ability, gender, or identity - can feel safe and supported to connect with nature. When we discuss park equity, we need to rethink what parks mean as a safe place in the community, and what safety looks like in general. Through this event, we will be facilitating discussions and activities that challenge our preconceptions of what parks should look like and who parks should serve. Programming will include a station for youth to imagine and draw their ideal park, a space to connect community members with free mental health resources, speaking engagements from housing and environmental advocates, and culturally-relevant food for the public. Our honorarium will focus on how parks can positively serve and interact with all populations, bringing people together to care for each community's unique needs as nature cares for us. The hope is that the event will prop parks up as places that communities themselves take stewardship of to care for as vectors of joy, rest, and organizing.