National Health Foundation (NHF) recognizes the connection between a community’s access to parks, green space and their health outcomes. Additionally, NHF acknowledges that decades of racist policies and city planning has led to the under-funding of parks and green spaces in Black communities and communities of color across Los Angeles while simultaneously being over-policed – increasing health disparities in these communities.
NHF, as part of the Park Equity Alliance, stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and People’s Budget Los Angeles Coalition in their call for Los Angeles City Council to defund the Los Angeles Police Department and to re-allocate that funding towards community-led health, infrastructure, and safety initiatives; including investments in parks, green spaces and recreational facilities in Black communities.
LA City’s Recreation and Parks Department has the ability to create connected, healthy communities where people feel safe and welcome when funded adequately and equitably.
To read the Park Equity Alliance letter to LA City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee click here.
To make your own public comment on LA City’s Budget Proposal Fiscal Year 2020-21, click here.
To read more on LA’s Park Needs Assessment, click here.
Park Equity Alliance partners:
Advancement Project California
Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement
Communities for a Better Environment