September 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 38

A B OV E & B E YO N D

As the third-largest county in
the state and spanning 682 square
miles, Baltimore County is home
to more than 828,000 residents
across 29 unincorporated cities
and communities. Its population comprises 63 percent - NonHispanic White, 26 percent - Black,
0.33 percent - Native American, 5
percent - Asian, 0.04 percent - Pacific Islander and 4.2 percent - Hispanic, according to the 2010 U.S.
Census.
Maryland recorded three confirmed COVID-19 cases on March
5 - alarming news that reverberated throughout state and local
government agencies. By March
17, about 175 of the recreation
and parks department's 183 fulltime and part-time office and Police Athletic League (PAL) center
staff began either teleworking from
home or went on administrative
leave, while others like nature center employees and park rangers
continued working at their respective sites. Johnson explains that her
department also includes an additional 900 seasonal and recreation
program leaders, who ceased work-

ing at the time due to the pandemic
but were paid sick and safe leave
for up to 64 hours.
Although parks, trails and nature centers stayed open, BCRP
staff were concerned about the
basketball courts and tennis courts
as well. And, this posed a challenge that relates directly to social
equity, Johnson says. She adds that
basketball presents very different
problems than tennis. " If you put
a basketball rim up, you're going
to have 10 people crowded around
a hoop to play, and they're not going to be socially distanced, " she
says. However, tennis allows for
single players who could easily
physically distance, yet it fails to
promote equity.
Johnson explains that, traditionally, each sport attracts two very different socioeconomic user groups.
" So, we took down the tennis nets
and we took down the basketball
hoops at the same time, " she says.
BCRP buildings (PAL centers and
recreation facilities), portable toilets/restrooms, playgrounds, stages and water fountains also were
closed to the public.

On March 30, Maryland reported 1,413 confirmed cases and
15 deaths, prompting Governor
Larry Hogan to issue a statewide
stay-at-home order (tinyurl.com/
y2uhwu5s) to mitigate the spread
of the virus.

Pivoting to Provide
Essential Services
The pandemic and subsequent
closures caused much anxiety for
those in underserved communities,
especially for those dependent on
essential services like food assistance programs.
" Prior to COVID, we only [offered] the meal program for those
registered for our PAL summer
program; they received meals and
a snack, " Johnson explains. Once
schools shut down, she says Baltimore County wasn't certain that
food distribution would continue
for youth. Thus, the county executive formed a food distribution
task force. Kara Burman, a regional coordinator at BCRP, has
served as department lead for the
task force and contacted partners,
like the Maryland Food Bank and
KidzTable, to participate in the
food programs.
Initially, the staff served graband-go meals Monday through
Friday, whereby people could pick
up two meals daily at designated
facilities throughout the county.
With assistance from the National Guard, BCRP was able to scale
back the schedule to three days per
week without having to decrease
the number of meals distributed. On Saturdays, staff worked at
drive-thru sites supplying 30-pound

On Saturdays, BCRP staﬀ distribute boxes of nonperishable food and fresh produce to families impacted by COVID-19.
36

Parks & Recreation

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September 2020 - Parks & Recreation

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