Friends of the Parks actively helps residents and neighborhood associations who live in the vicinity of a park, understand the formative role they can play in shaping park plans and implementing projects. We believe that the difference between average and outstanding parks is the involvement of park users in activities ranging from park planning to volunteerism to fund raising.

The Challenge.

Most parks are surrounded and used by people from many neighborhoods. This makes coordination of common concerns and goals among neighborhoods difficult. Without a mechanism to bring such people and groups together, many neighborhood associations assume a passive role in care of the parks near them.

The Solution.

Friends of the Parks assists in building active citizen participation in two primary ways:

• We will visit your group. We are available to speak to citizen groups and neighborhood associations at their monthly meetings. We inform them about their area parks and the overall park system. Our experience is that residents appreciate learning about how the character of their neighborhood can be reflected in park design. New recreation facilities, for example, can be modified to accommodate neighborhood concerns for safety, lighting and noise issues. To arrange a visit to your neighborhood monthly meeting, please contact Friends of the Parks.

• We can hold periodic meetings of representatives from several neighborhoods. This has proven to be a valuable tool to channel interest and involvement, and to keep people informed. Again, please contact Friends of the Parks to see how a meeting can be set up.

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