Meet Marcos Trinidad, Director at Audubon Center at Debs Park

"This glue of equity that holds [the Parks Now Coalition] together is very special because we are coming from a common place of understanding that not everyone has access to parks. And that's what we're really looking at changing." — Marcos Trinidad

For many, “nature,” “outdoors” and “open space” aren’t the first words that come to mind when thinking of Los Angeles. But that was never the case with Marcos. From as early as kindergarten, he connected with nature along the Arroyo Seco, one of the tributaries of the LA River. “I remember running and jumping on leaves, kicking and stepping on them to hear that crunching sound,” Marcos reminisces. “What really stood out was the smell of Sycamore, the smell of the leaves and just how big and beautiful these trees really are.” This early memory ultimately inspired him to help people see Los Angeles as “a nature-rich location.”

Located just a few miles northeast of Downtown Los Angeles in the city’s fourth-largest park, Audubon Center at Debs Park is an environmental education and conservation center. The Center offers a range of programs, like bird walks, nature-themed arts and crafts, and volunteer opportunities in a number of pocket parks along the LA River. It takes a holistic approach to serving the local community. “We invite folks to come out and highlight issues in our neighborhood and see how it has an impact on the environment,“ explains Marcos. “Homelessness, affordable housing, domestic violence, substance abuse… All these issues that conservationists traditionally stay away from, we embrace because those are the issues our community members are dealing with.”

Like Marcos, his children are learning to appreciate their connection to nature. “It's a reminder of why I do this work," says Marcos. "It's why I work in conservation. Why I advocate for parks and why I continue to build and restore the connection between people and their land.”

To learn more about Marcos and the work Audubon Center at Debs Park is doing to advance access and equity in our parks systems, visit https://debspark.audubon.org/

Meet Sandra Celedon-Castro, Executive Director at Fresno Building Healthy Communities

“I’m excited to see this momentum and level of energy [throughout the State], because I think it really influences on the work on the local level and vice versa.” — Sandra Celedon-Castro

Though her family didn’t have the money to send her and her siblings to camp growing up, Sandra likes to say they went to the moon every summer. She grew up in Calwa - a small unincorporated community with a 19-acre park with a play structure called The Rocket. “We would climb up really high in this rocket and slide down over and over again for hours,” says Sandra. “Looking back, those experiences contributed tremendously to my advocacy today in terms of promoting access to neighborhood parks and outdoor experiences and play. It’s such an enriching opportunity that lasts a lifetime.”

Fresno Building Healthy Communities (Fresno BHC) is a coalition of community members and community- and faith-based organizations working to create one healthy Fresno – where all children and families can live healthy, safe, and productive lives. From hosting community park clean-ups to organizing annual youth nature camps and advancing policies that support park and green infrastructure, Fresno BHC is committed to increasing park access and supporting outdoor recreation opportunities. “Engaging with the Parks Now coalition has been instrumental in connecting us to other folks in the region and throughout the state,” says Sandra. “I’m excited to see this momentum and level of energy, because I think it really influences the work on the local level and vice versa.”

As a local-based organization, all of Fresno BHC’s work is driven and informed by community members themselves. “Community organizing and connecting with people on the ground is definitely not easy and it’s certainly not free,” Sandra remarks. “I would love for the Parks Now coalition to think about how to support the on-the-ground organizing work that is really the foundation for all the work that we do.”

To learn more about Sandra and the work Fresno Building Healthy Communities is doing to advance access and equity in our parks systems, visit https://www.fresnobhc.org/