Community Grassroots Efforts Bring Fitness Park to South LA

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What started out as a small community effort to clean up a neighborhood, has now evolved into an innovative self-sustaining, green park project. The idea of building a park near WAYS elementary school first came to Heal the Bay and Kendra Okonkwo, founder of the WAYS elementary charter school in South LA, after conducting an environmental assessment of the WAYS neighborhood.

Okonkwo and Refugio Mata, a program organizer for Heal the Bay, noticed an abandoned alley behind the WAYS school.

Because park space in the area was limited, they decided to work with community residents and form collaborations with local organizations, to develop plans for a park. Students from WAYS and community members offered their support by providing input, participating in neighborhood meetings, and gathering for community clean-up events.

Not only will the park provide residents with a place to play and walk, but it will also serve as a local greening project to control water pollution. Water collected from the street will be used to irrigate the park. The project, which is set to cost $1.3 million, is being funded through the Liberty Hill Foundation and the Office of Community Beautification.

The WAYS Reading and Fitness Park is scheduled to be opened to residents by January 2014.

This is a plan of what the WAYS Reading and Fitness Park might look like once developed.

Read “How Transforming a Vacant Lot Into a Welcoming Park Helps Build Community” and “Building a Special Park in South L.A.” to learn more about how the new WAYS Reading and Fitness Park came to be.