Since 2018, NHF has partnered with the Office of Community Beautification to address community cleanliness, beautification, and safety. NHF established Comunidad de NHF, a group of engaged and concerned community members in the Pico-Union neighborhood, who meet weekly to host 311 Community Walks, community clean-ups and capacity building workshops. During 311 Walks, Comunidad members use the 311 app to report graffiti, chronic dump sites, issues with streetlights and more.
This year, NHF was invited to speak on a panel at the 6th Annual Keep Los Angeles Beautiful Conference to share about our efforts on engaging community members around street safety and beautification. Every year, the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Work, office of Community Beautification and Keep Los Angeles Beautiful celebrate Public Works Week by convening community organizations, youth advocates, researchers, Federal State, County and Local Public Agencies, and City of L.A. Departments to share ideas and exchange beautification strategies.
NHF’s Program Manager of Community and Youth Engagement, Ariel (Above), spoke on a panel titled, The Power of Community, hosted by Thao Tran from the Office of Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky. Ariel spoke about volunteer recruitment and retention. “Recruitment doesn’t end once you have a full roster, it is important to tap into existing networks, like reaching out to schools and faith communities to identify potential volunteers,” Ariel shared as part of the panel. Community beautification can start small, with one person at a time taking walks in their neighborhood and looking for opportunities to improve the safety and health of their community.
In 2023, Comunidad de NHF hosted two clean-ups, fourteen 311 Walks submitting 110 reports, and hosted NHF’s Annual Community Fair. They partnered with Cal Walks and UC Berkeley SafeTREC in planning and hosting a Communidades Activas y Seguras (CAyS) workshop to compete a street assessment and develop a community-driven action plan. They are still advocating for safer and cleaner streets, working with City Council District 1 to implement built environment interventions including a decorative crosswalk. If you are interested in getting involved with Comunidad de NHF, follow the official Facebook page for updated meeting information, follow NHF on IG @nhfcommunity or email Ariel at awiliams-lewis@nhfca.org.
