Outdoors for All is a project to transform a blighted urban neighborhood by working with residents to claim, envision, build, and operate a renewed Elm Street playlot, located in gritty Richmond, CA.
“Would you please go outside and play?!” For millions of children around the country, playing outdoors is synonymous with a happy and healthy childhood. But for the children who live in the Iron Triangle neighborhood of Richmond, CA - one of the poorest and most violent neighborhoods in America - outdoor play is a forbidden pleasure. Gun violence, unleashed dogs trained to fight, men who leer and stare: all too often, this is what surrounds the children of the Iron Triangle.
But working with local residents, Pogo Park is giving them a safe, stimulating, happy place to play, to explore and discover, by working with local residents to reimagine, redesign, and revitalize the Elm Street Playlot, a neighborhood "pocket park."
Working together as paid staff members, local residents have spent the past two years surveying their neighborhood, enlisting community support, and developing the skills to design, build, and operate the Elm Playlot. Now, they're ready to build it.
