June 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 37

PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY OF LOS ANGELES
DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND PARKS

Los Angeles Recreation and Parks
department staff opened and operated
24 recreation centers and 500 camping
trailers as homeless shelters and housing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

that the transition to a more virtual world has made mental health
services more accessible. " Telemedicine shot off like a rocket, "
she says. " We always thought,
'When you have mental health issues...getting help has to be in person.' " Now, Chambers says, mental health providers have quickly
transitioned to providing services
virtually. " Telepsychiatry and teletherapy are making a tremendous
difference. They allow individuals
to get treatment for the first time or
continue treatment plans they've
had for years. "
Chambers also explains that virtual mental health services have
given some individuals, who may
not have previously reached out
due to privacy concerns or fear of
stigma, the confidence to seek help.
For example, with NAMI, " If you
had individuals who were hesitant
to be seen, they now could join a
class in a location other than where
they live, " she says. " It broke down
the barrier. "
To this end, park and recreation
agencies can consider beginning or
continuing virtual mental health
offerings to make these benefits accessible and appealing to their staff.
Alternatively, park and recreation leadership can actively cultivate an environment where employees are free to speak up about
any issues they are experiencing
without fear of negative consequences or retribution. This is the
approach Shull has taken with his
staff during the past year. " I started holding small working groups
with individuals in the field and
allowing the field people to orga

nize them, " he says. These working
groups have addressed topics like
racial equity within the community and throughout the department,
in addition to the challenges of
COVID-19 and the compounding
effects these challenges have had
on staff morale. " I've learned a
ton, " says Shull. " It's really important that as managers, we're talking
at all levels, to all employees.... It's
been good for me to create those
relationships, because people need
to have some freedom to be able to
communicate and feel like they're
going to be heard. "

Supporting Staff
Supporting Communities
The individuals highlighted above
share a resounding message about
how park and recreation professionals have adapted to the challenges of the past year: they take
great pride in their work, they have
immense care for their communities, and they are willing to tackle
any challenge that comes their way.
" It's sort of the mantra of people
in our profession: 'What is it you
need us to do, and we'll do it and
we'll do it together,' " says Strasser.
" I hope the biggest takeaway
is that professionals in the recreation realm...are doing it because
they love their community, " says
McLaughlin. " I call [my staff] fivetool players [because] they can
pivot, and they don't panic in situations. They look at what it is and
say, 'Okay, what do we need to do?'

That level-headedness is probably
something that many professionals
in this area share, but we don't give
credit to. But, it's absolutely what
carried our department forward. "
Shull expresses a similar sentiment: " I keep saying to everybody that I think recreation and
parks professionals are so adept
and so able to turn a switch and
say, 'Okay, this is my role.' They're
used to working with people, and
it was just amazing to see the pride
and the stories that came out of the
staff.... [This] gave them the worth
and [reminded them] why we're
here to do this. "
While park and recreation professionals remain dedicated to
serving their communities through
challenging times, they also are
not immune to the stress and anxiety brought on by these circumstances. These individuals provide
essential community services. In
return, we can ensure that they are
afforded the mental health support they need to experience the
same quality of life they work every day to make possible for their
community members.
To hear Strasser and Shull talk
more about their agency's COVID-19
response and how they are supporting
staff and community mental health
during the pandemic, tune in to the
June bonus episode of Open Space
Radio at nrpa.org/June2021Bonus
Episode.
Lindsay Hogeboom is Associate Editor of Parks
& Recreation magazine (lhogeboom@nrpa.org).

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June 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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