Kids in one LA neighborhood now have a new park to play in, thanks to efforts by the parent leadership group Community in Action. “During the hot, hot days, my whole (building) would walk to the park together,” says Marcia Lopez, Los Angeles mother of three. Before, “kids were not allowed to (play) outside” because of traffic, adds Jose Ramos, community director for the Children’s Bureau.

Lopez joined Community in Action two years ago because she wanted to make her neighborhood “cleaner for my children,” she says. With support from the Children’s Bureau, Community in Action parents have organized community cleanups, opened the new park, and plan to plant trees. Key strategies include:

• Mobilizing parents: “We started with parents who were motivated to do something for their children. Other parents come on board when they see what’s going on,” says Ramos. 20 members meet twice a month and the Children’s Bureau provides child care and dinner, as well as leadership training and staff support.

• Listening to the community: “We needed to know what the community wanted,” says Lopez. So parents created a survey, practiced on each other, and starting talking with people. “I would tell (people) what we are doing and they’d say, ‘That’s what we need!’” recalls Lopez. Other parents talked with people from church, from their building, and at their child’s school—and more parents got involved. The assessment identified four goals and parents began working on two: neighborhood cleanups and getting a park.

• Cleaning up the neighborhood: Parents organized events to clean up garbage—and called the city to pick up old sofas and refrigerators left outside. “I help clean my area, little by little,” says Brizeida Bardales, mother of two. “People say, ‘You’re crazy.’ I say, ‘I need to help my neighborhood. That’s not crazy.’”

• Opening a park: The Children’s Bureau helped parents apply for a city grant for a neighborhood park. Parents decided what they wanted the park to look like. Children “drew and wrote about why the park was needed,” says Lopez. Parents matched the $10,000 grant with volunteer work to get the park ready and the Children’s Bureau got game boards and benches donated. Bardales put up notes in her building about the park and goes there to give out cookies, fruit, and juice.

“This was one of the best projects we funded,” says Michael Espinosa, grant manager for LA’s Community Beautification Grant. “This group went all out, got tons of people to volunteer” at the park.

• Meeting with police: After ongoing meetings with the police department, cops are more visible in the community. “There aren’t as many gangsters hanging around,” says Lopez.

Next steps

Community in Action plans to plant 300 trees in the neighborhood. The community will organize the planting and neighborhood youth will identify people to water the trees, says Ramos. Next year they plan to do more community education about the benefits of a cleaner neighborhood.

Community in Action has been “good for me and my family,” says Bardales. “When someone asks a question, now I talk. Before I wouldn’t talk. We have no (extended) family here, it was very difficult. Now, m’ija is happier. I am happy, people love me.”

• Community in Action, 323-953-7350, ext. 422