Swansboro West Civic Association awarded grant to help design community park
The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay has awarded Swansboro West Civic Association a $20,000 Community Green Access (CGA) mini-grant to conduct a visioning process to transform the area behind Swansboro Elementary School into a community park. Southside ReLeaf is serving as the Association’s fiscal agent.
The goal of this project is to engage community members of Swansboro West and teachers, staff, students, and parents of Swansboro Elementary School to develop a common vision for how the space behind the school can be redeveloped to better meet the needs of residents.
“Creating access to quality green space for the community is critical,” said Amy Wentz, co-founder of Southside ReLeaf. “We’re honored to be able to support Swansboro West Civic Association as they build community consensus around what a new park behind the elementary school could look like. Neighbors in Swansboro know best what they need, so the fact that they will be the ones to design future park upgrades is so exciting.”
In the Richmond 300 master plan, a stated goal of the City of Richmond is for all residents to be within a 10-minute walk of a park. While there is a sizable area behind Swansboro Elementary School, it currently lacks many of the amenities associated with a community park and the playground equipment requires upgrades. The area is not currently designated as an official city park.
“Green spaces to meet and gather help make a community strong and vibrant. It really is the community’s heart and soul,” said Denise Payne, Swansboro West Civic Association President. “Swansboro West has lacked this for many years, and more importantly, our children have lacked that their entire lives. They already know Swansboro Elementary as a wonderful school. Now we have to show them it can be a beautiful, safe, and fun park as well.”
Swansboro West Civic Association is a volunteer-led organization that represents Richmond residents between Hull Street and Forest Hill Avenue from Clopton Street to just before Belt Boulevard and along Reedy Creek. By engaging with neighbors, the Association solves problems pertaining to community safety, health, and quality of life in order to make the Swansboro West neighborhood a better place to live. In partnership with the Richmond Tree Stewards, the Association is currently in the process of planting more than 100 trees in the community to reduce urban heat islands and improve air quality.
Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay engages communities, companies, and conservationists to build a more resilient landscape and foster deeper commitment to improving communities, lands, and waters in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. As part of this work, the Alliance offers financial and technical assistance to local groups through their Community Green Access (CGA) mini-grants program. The aim of the program is to increase environmental access for community members in historically underserved areas.
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