July 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 10

PERSPECT I VES A MESSAGE FROM NRPA' S LEADERS
I Rise Up for Parks and Recreation
It's Park and Recreation Month!
July is the month we celebrate the
essential role of parks and recreation
in communities everywhere.
It's the
month when park and recreation professionals
across the country are at
their busiest, and it's the month where
our impact on communities is perhaps
most visible. This month - Park and
Recreation Month - is a wonderful
chance to celebrate, promote, inspire
and advocate for our field. And this
year's theme - Rise Up for Parks and
Recreation - is a call to action.
Our vice president of public policy
and advocacy, Elvis Cordova, has
grown fond of asking, " What have you done for
parks? " when talking with elected officials and
our allies. This year's Park and Recreation Month
theme of " Rise Up " is our way of inspiring all of
our community members to support the work that
we do day in and day out. It's especially inspiring
to read the stories in this issue because they are testaments
to how rising up for parks and recreation
means rising up for community, for inclusion, for
health and well-being, and so much more.
One story - that of Earvin " Magic " Johnson
Park - is an example of what can happen when
people unite to support a vision; when people rise
up for community, for strength, for equity. I had the
pleasure of visiting the park and community center
around the time the latest phase was nearing
completion. Norma García-Gonzalez, director of
County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and
Recreation, had generously hosted a gathering of
the county's park and recreation directors to share
challenges and successes and how NRPA can support
them. Among the stories we heard that day was
the one told in the article.
Thanks to voters across the state of California rising
up for Proposition 68, there are unprecedented
resources for local community investment through
parks - investment that will go where it is most
needed, rooted in equity. Thanks to local communi10
Parks & Recreation | JULY 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
ty members rising up to participate in visioning and
planning, the center and surrounding land have been
designed to deliver spaces, programs and resources
that the community members most wanted. And,
thanks to the leadership, grit and determination of
the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation team,
parks and recreation is rising up to strengthen the
resilience, health and well-being of millions of community
members.
From California to Michigan to Arizona and
thousands of communities in between, park and
recreation professionals and advocates, like you, are
rising up for your communities. Our July Park and
Recreation Month theme is a call to action for you as
well. You have the opportunity to rise up to support
all the members of your community, especially the
ones who may not be benefiting from your essential
work. Rise up and tell your stories, make your voices
heard, help your community leadership understand
that there is more need for what we do - and that
where there is more need, there is more opportunity.
We are all tired, especially from the grueling past
two years, but we also are fueled by the deep conviction
we have that parks and recreation makes a
huge difference in people's lives. Story after story
flows through these pages, through your community
centers, onto your ballfields and playgrounds, and
along your trails and green spaces. Those stories -
the one from this year's photo contest winner who
hosts the annual Piestewa Fallen Heroes Sunrise
Memorial event and the one from last year's winner
whose son found peace in their local park - inspire
us to rise up and advocate for this incredible field.
Every day is a chance for us to ask ourselves and
our community members, " What have you done for
parks and rec today? " And, every day is a chance
for us to answer. Today, like the sun, I rise up.
KRISTINE STRATTON
President and CEO
July 2022 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2022 - Parks & Recreation
