The Trust for Public Land in Action: 2020 C E L E B R AT I N G W HAT YO U M A D E P O S S I B L E IN CHICAGO AND BEYOND
Thank you so much for partnering with us in Chicago! Close-to-home green spaces are vital to communities in today’s rapidly changing world. The coronavirus pandemic, its economic fallout, and the ongoing realities of systemic racism have created unprecedented hardships in our communities. We know that great parks and green spaces can transform communities from the ground up: they improve public health, advance economic opportunities and learning outcomes, and connect people to nature and to each other. We see firsthand how well-designed parks are more than a place to play; they change people’s lives. Our new strategic plan places community at the center of our powerful land-for-people work. The impact of our mission not only creates great parks, public lands, trails, and green schoolyards but also strengthens social, civic, personal and emotional connections upon which our communities depend. Our work addresses some of the most pressing
priorities we face: climate change, public health, and equity. Over the next five years, we aim to accelerate the transformative impact of our mission—reaching over 300 communities with our work and improving the lives of 85 million people nationwide. We are rising to the challenges of this moment to bring parks and green spaces where they’re needed most. In Chicago, we continue to enhance existing green spaces and seek opportunities to create new ones. This year, we helped community members begin the design of a 15-block art-filled greenway along a popular commuter route, joined a city-wide council to identify nature-based solutions for stormwater management in the Chicago River watershed, and began planning to transform abandoned infrastructure into innovative parks on Chicago’s west side. With your help, we’re creating parks and connecting people to trails and the outdoors in Chicago and across the country. Thank you!
DARCY KIEFEL
Ward (A. Montgomery) Park Chicago, IL
Empowering communities The Trust for Public Land, Freedom House and lead artist Haman Cross III, the UIC School of Architecture, Open Architecture Chicago, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago are leading an initiative to create a 15-block greenway under the Chicago Transit Authority’s Pink Line between Kedzie and Kildare. This greenway, named Under the Grid, will provide connections to both the 16th Street and Ogden Corridors in North Lawndale and offer residents and visitors a safe, fun, engaging route through the community. Community engagement began in February 2020 at an Urban Design Hackathon. More than 70 community members of all ages came together for the Hackathon, walked the existing space, and learned from design experts—including Walter Hood, a 2019 MacArthur Fellow and Professor of Landscape Architecture at UC Berkeley. Once inspired, community members paired up with
designers to create models that will influence the final design. As part of this initiative, we will transform a dilapidated basketball court owned by the Westside Association for Community Action into an inviting court for North Lawndale residents to exercise outdoors. Neighborhood youth will partner with architects, artists, and designers to generate possibilities for renovating the court and then work with the same professionals to create the final designs. Youth will also help plan community events to celebrate the new court’s opening in summer 2021. Our experience has shown us that the process of creating parks catalyzes connections, reinforces community identity, and encourages ongoing civic engagement. That’s why all of our efforts—in Chicago and across the country—are communitydriven and community-led.
JOSHUA LOTT
Urban Design Hackathon Chicago, IL
Celebrating our successes In fiscal year 2020: • We celebrated the 5th anniversary of The 606— our signature trail project in Chicago—virtually with our valued community partners and donors. • We joined the Chicago River Watershed Council—a group of 14 partner organizations— to improve water quality; protect, expand, and restore natural areas; increase access to open space for the Chicago/Calumet watershed; and improve regional resiliency benefiting people, water, and wildlife. To kick this work off, the Council will analyze available land in the watershed by the end of 2020. • We supported a group of youth, artists, and partners led by the Lincoln Park Zoo to revitalize a neglected mini-golf course in the soon-to-berenamed Douglass Park. The group plans to unveil Douglass 18 in 2021 with bird-themed designs for the golf obstacles that honor the many birds seen at the park.
• We are working with the Chicago Park District to secure funds to plant native grass and trees in the 7.5-acre natural area in the soon-to-berenamed Douglass Park. Once restored, this part of the 160-acre park surrounding the Douglass 18 mini-golf course will be more inviting for park visitors strolling the curving pathways, birding, or fishing in the lagoons.
THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND IN CHICAGO • Rachel Baird, Midwest Institutional Giving Manager • Amy Kunz, Associate Director of Philanthropy • Caroline O’Boyle, Chicago Program Director • Wil Ruggiero, Administrative Assistant
WILL RICE
The 606
Chicago, IL
Recognizing our partners Pastor Reshorna Fitzpatrick has a vision for North Lawndale, her home on Chicago’s west side. She leads a volunteer group of like-minded neighbors, beautifying the community one vacant lot at a time. “I see a North Lawndale with a vibrant economic corridor where everything anyone might need is within their reach. I also see green spaces where families can enjoy time outside, and everyone can have a sense of peace.” In addition to serving as a faith leader, she chairs the GROWSS committee (Greening, Open Space, Water, Soil, and Sustainability) with 16 active members. They bring neglected areas to life by planting flower and vegetable gardens. “If you green it, they will come—and if you plant it, they will eat it,” she says with a laugh.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF PASTOR RESHORNA FITZPATRICK
Pastor Reshorna Fitzpatrick
GROWSS also aims to provide a space for cooking demonstrations, spoken word events, concerts, and family movie nights. Another formerly vacant lot will house a small floral business called Love Blooms which will serve as a job-training site for youth. Pastor Reshorna knows neighbors will care for these spaces because they instill a sense of dignity and community pride. She is grateful for The Trust for Public Land’s involvement in GROWSS and across the neighborhood. We provide expertise in land acquisition and park design. And our network of partners and experts advise, teach, build, and fundraise to bring this community’s vision to life. “I have always been of the mindset that if I can see something, I can achieve it with the help of the right people to help me get there.”
COX CONSERVES HEROES R E C O G N I Z E S PA S T O R RESHORNA WITH 2020 AWARD The award—a partnership between The Trust for Public Land and Cox Enterprises— honors environmental volunteers who create, preserve, or enhance shared outdoor spaces in their communities. As a Midwest winner, she received a cash prize to donate to GROWSS.
Victory for public lands The Trust for Public Land does more than complete exceptional land protection projects. In partnership with The Trust for Public Land Action Fund, we create, renew, and protect public funding and support for conservation through education, ballot measures, and legislative advocacy. At the federal level, this year brought an exceptional victory. For nearly four decades, we have led the fight for full, dedicated, and permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the budgetary lifeblood for parks and open space. Through the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA)— signed into law on August 4, 2020—LWCF is now permanently and fully funded, providing $900 million annually for conservation and parks. Full and dedicated funding for LWCF means stable and
predictable support for big, complex, long-term land conservation projects. In addition, GAOA provides $9.5 billion for our national parks and federal lands to address their huge maintenance backlog and will create jobs and infuse money into local economies for parks, trails, and greenways Locally, LWCF funded The Trust for Public Land and Fish and Wildlife Service’s efforts to form the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge on the Illinois-Wisconsin border. We are extremely proud of the work we do to advocate for our public lands—and we will continue to lead the charge to ensure that we all have access to the extraordinary benefits that connection with nature brings.
RAY MATHIS
Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge McHenry County, IL
Looking ahead This past year was one of planning, visioning, collaboration, and progress toward trails and parks initiatives we know will benefit many Chicagoans for generations to come. To provide citywide coordination and leadership, we are establishing a Chicago Infrastructure Reuse Network comprised of different project leaders throughout the city, including Pilsen, Englewood, and North Lawndale. This network will support community efforts to transform unused infrastructure into multiuse trails to provide residents with the social, environmental, health, and economic benefits associated with trails and added green space.
We are exploring the feasibility of transforming an inactive 2.5-mile CSX elevated train line in North Lawndale into a walking and biking path. We are also working with our community partners in the neighborhoods most severely impacted by COVID-19 to get park and trail projects “shovel ready.” Disinvestment has historically challenged these neighborhoods; we aim to ensure federal stimulus funding is equitably invested. In these efforts and more, we look forward to partnering with you to advance health, equity, and well-being through the power of parks, trails, and nature.
ADAM ALEXANDER
The 606
Chicago, IL
Our work is made possible thanks to the generosity of individuals like you. Our most pressing needs are for: • The Trust for Public Land – support our land-for-people mission with an unrestricted gift • The Chicago Neighborhood Parks Program ($258,500 needed) • The Chicago Trails and Greenways Program ($327,600 needed) • Corporate sponsorships are available for North Lawndale projects, The 606, volunteer opportunities, and COVID-19 related “shovel ready” projects
Thank you!
WILL RICE
Thank you
for joining us as we reimagine and realize the power of land for people to create stronger communities. We couldn’t do it without you.
Join us. The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come.
tpl.org
Caroline O’Boyle Chicago Program Director 312.564.8169 | caroline.oboyle@tpl.org Amy Kunz Associate Director of Philanthropy 312.564.8178 | amy.kunz@tpl.org 120 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 2000 Chicago, IL 60603
COVER (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): TPL STAFF, RICHARD FREEDA, WILL RICE, EDWARD YU, JOSHUA LOTT.