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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