REACH youth reclaim neighborhood park in Thornton

by John Durand
Coordinator, Galt Area Youth Coalition

On June 7, more than 50 youth and adults gathered to participate in a park cleanup and beautification campaign in the rural community of Thornton. The Mokelumne Park cleanup project marked the culmination of a year’s planning and the first phase of a larger effort to address safety in the community.

Students from New Hope Elementary School’s Youth LEAD were involved in the planning and preparation for the event. In December, students in Youth LEAD attended training on photo mapping, presented by Kindra Montgomery from the UC Davis Center for Community School Partnerships. Under the leadership of Janet Stemler and Janet Munoz, students spent the next two months documenting community safety issues. The Youth LEAD students organized a binder of photos that illustrated safe and unsafe places in the community.

Through a youth-led grant program sponsored by the Galt Area Youth Coalition and modeled after Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s Grants Advisory Board for Youth (GABY) YouthHOPE grants, Thornton students proposed the cleanup of a small neighborhood park maintained by the San Joaquin County Housing Authority. The park had become a haven for gang activity and underage drinking, and was not perceived as a safe place for families or youth. Sixth-grade student Mariah Berg worked with her peers to draft a proposal to remove litter, paint over graffiti and replant neglected flower beds.

In preparation for the event, housing authority staff worked with students to remove weeds and deliver a truckload of playground bark. Grant funds from Sierra Health Foundation’s REACH grant and service learning grants from Youth Service California and California Volunteers helped pay for tools, bedding plants, paint and paintbrushes.

Children and families began arriving at the park before 8 a.m. to begin work. After enjoying some teambuilding, juice and muffins, youth put on work gloves and began removing broken glass from the playground areas. Then the large group divided into teams to paint the benches and playground equipment, use wheelbarrows to move the new bark into the play area, and plant 70 drought-tolerant flowers and shrubs. By 11:30 a.m., the first phase of the playground makeover was nearly complete and the volunteers had worked up a healthy appetite for pizza.

Joanne Oien, superintendent of the New Hope District, viewed the park cleanup as an opportunity to build community and develop an ethic of community service. Service learning is being used in the school district as an instructional strategy to increase student engagement and promote youth voice.

“We are reclaiming the park from the vandals,” said Willie from the San Joaquin County Housing Authority.

“This experience was empowering for youth to identify a community need, participate in the planning, and see their efforts result in such a beautiful outcome,” explained Janet Munoz. “The youth and adult partnerships that were formed will be long-lasting.”

Janet Stemler, who helped oversee the project, was very excited and described the day as a “huge success.” She explained that the next phase of the park renovation will be the purchase of new playground equipment. The housing authority will be adding security patrols, lighting and video cameras to ensure the park will be a safe and inviting place for the entire community.

Thornton and the New Hope Elementary School District are part of the Galt Area Youth Coalition, which is a REACH Community Action coalition.