Vision and Expansion Timeline
- Two parks by end of 2025.
- Five parks by end of 2033.
- 100 - 300+ unhoused and very low-income participants empowered at each park location on Saturday AMs.
- 6000+ unduplicated unhoused and very low-income participants connecting with 500+ housed volunteers and housed community members annually by end of 2033.
Hierarchy of Goals
1. Meet unhoused residents where they are -- physically, spiritually, and emotionally -- and engage with them on a personal, human level through a shared community-beautifying activity.
2. Connect participants to the resources and social capital of the neighborhood. Through a positive community environment and resource fair, provide a highly convenient, efficient, and comfortable opportunity for unhoused and very low-income neighbors to connect with services and resources, long-term employers, volunteer groups, elected officials, unhoused advocates, and more.
3. In a comfortable space, break down barriers between housed and unhoused neighbors. Through proximity, education, and an opportunity for relationship formation, dispel myths and stigma related to unhoused residents, the homeless crisis at large, and discourage NIMBY-ism (one of the leading causes of the crisis!).
4. Beautify parks.
2. Connect participants to the resources and social capital of the neighborhood. Through a positive community environment and resource fair, provide a highly convenient, efficient, and comfortable opportunity for unhoused and very low-income neighbors to connect with services and resources, long-term employers, volunteer groups, elected officials, unhoused advocates, and more.
3. In a comfortable space, break down barriers between housed and unhoused neighbors. Through proximity, education, and an opportunity for relationship formation, dispel myths and stigma related to unhoused residents, the homeless crisis at large, and discourage NIMBY-ism (one of the leading causes of the crisis!).
4. Beautify parks.
Wisdom Informing our Model and Vision
"Community connectedness is not just about warm fuzzy tales of civic triumph. In measurable and well-documented ways, social capital makes an enormous difference in our lives...social capital makes us smarter, healthier, safer, richer, and better able to govern a just and stable democracy." - Robert D. Putnam, American political scientist
"Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation has been an under appreciated public health crisis that has harmed individual and societal health. Given the significant health consequences of loneliness and isolation, we must prioritize building social connection the same way we have prioritized other critical public health issues such as tobacco, obesity, and substance use disorders." - Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General
"It is in proximity that we understand things we cannot understand from a distance." - Bryan Stevenson, founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative
"Systems change when people do, and people change when they're cherished." - Greg Boyle, founder and Executive Director, Homeboy Industries
"Humans are neurologically wired for connection. It’s why we’re here, we all need it." -Brené Brown, American professor, author, and podcast host
“It is in the shelter of each other that people live.” - Irish saying
"Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation has been an under appreciated public health crisis that has harmed individual and societal health. Given the significant health consequences of loneliness and isolation, we must prioritize building social connection the same way we have prioritized other critical public health issues such as tobacco, obesity, and substance use disorders." - Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General
"It is in proximity that we understand things we cannot understand from a distance." - Bryan Stevenson, founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative
"Systems change when people do, and people change when they're cherished." - Greg Boyle, founder and Executive Director, Homeboy Industries
"Humans are neurologically wired for connection. It’s why we’re here, we all need it." -Brené Brown, American professor, author, and podcast host
“It is in the shelter of each other that people live.” - Irish saying