For Immediate Release:
February 4, 2020
Media Contact:
Alexander Robertson, [email protected], 216-242-2282
Recess Cleveland receives $30,000 Grant to Expand Access to Parks and Green Spaces in U.S. Cities.
The Trust for Public Land’s 10 Minute Walk campaign announces second round of funding across seven cities
Cleveland, Ohio – 2/4/2020 – Today, Recess Cleveland announced it was one of eight nonprofits across seven major metropolitan areas to receive funding from 10 Minute Walk, a national effort led by The Trust for Public Land. These grants will help bolster local efforts to ensure that 100% of people in U.S. cities have access to parks or green space within a 10-minute walk of home by 2050. This marks the second round of funding to support grassroots efforts in cities committed to this 100% goal. To date, 10 Minute Walk has distributed close to $800,000 to 15 nonprofits in 12 cities.
“We’re very excited to receive this Partnership Fund grant to kickstart our work in the community, which will have a real impact on families who need safe places to play that are also close to home,” said Alexander Robertson at Recess Cleveland. “This funding will allow us to empower community members to transform our park and our community by making it a safer, healthier place for all.”
This Partnership Fund award will support a project to assist with participatory design and creative placemaking, including the hosting of community events. Ultimately, this funding will enable Recess Cleveland, in partnership with numerous other organizations and city departments, to inform and implement a pilot community engagement process for several sites in Slavic Village and the Clark-Fulton neighborhood. Input will have direct on-the-ground park access and quality impacts by informing the design and construction of a new and renovated park spaces, but this funding will also be instrumental in informing a formalized and institutionalized process for the city and its departments that will have longer-term impacts on the city’s park system overall. Using specific park sites as pilot cases for partnership and new process, the goal of this project is to create and capture a community engagement process and to create a guidebook for the City of Cleveland to use as it continues to invest in parks and greenspace.
“We’re proud to support Recess Cleveland for embracing the power of parks to transform quality of life and spark connections that help people, economies, and entire communities thrive,” said Benita Hussain, director of 10 Minute Walk. “We recognize the critical role that community organizations play in making parks and green space more accessible for their residents, and we are thrilled to support these eight organizations in their efforts to make parks possible.”
10 Minute Walk works with local leaders across the U.S. to raise awareness around the importance of parks and green spaces, and to make parks top of mind with the people who are planning the future of cities. The campaign has gained support and commitments from almost 300 mayors to bring parks and green space within a 10-minute walk of home of residents, as well as dozens of nonprofits that are doing crucial work in local communities to advance this goal.
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About Recess Cleveland
Recess Cleveland is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that uses pop up events featuring a combination of kickball, dodgeball, arts & crafts, bounce houses, and other fun play activities to help families exercise more, relieve stress, DO GOOD, and connect with communities. Learn more about us here.
About the 10 Minute Walk
10 Minute Walk is a campaign dedicated to improving access to safe, quality parks and green spaces in cities—large and small—throughout the U.S. Together, we’re working with leaders to create a world in which 100% of people are within a 10-minute walk of a park or green space by 2050. Led by The Trust for Public Land, in partnership with National Recreation and Park Association and the Urban Land Institute, we drive commitments from city leaders working to achieve this vision and transform their communities by elevating parks and green space. Read more here.
