How communities are using parks and recreation to foster health and resiliency By Jared Mummert I t was an overcast Pacific Northwest day in December 2019 when Metro Parks Tacoma (Washington) Management Fellow Jackson Skinner led a group of about 35 park and recreation professionals and planners around Tacoma's park system. From the picturesque waterfront at Point Defiance Park - complete with a zoo, aquarium, miles of trails and views of the Puget Sound as well as, on a clear day, the breathtaking 14,410-foot Mount Rainier and Cascade Mountains - to the recently constructed and meaningful Eastside Community Center, park and recreation professionals witnessed the beauty, complexity and diversity of the Metro Parks Tacoma system. PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | O CTO BER 2 02 1 | Parks & Recreation 45