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Teaming Up for Urban Playgrounds

In March, the Trust for Public Land (TPL) received a $600,000 grant from MetLife Foundation, which will support the creation of six new parks and playgrounds across the country. The grant expands the MetLife Foundation Parks & Playgrounds Fund to $2.6 million.

The MetLife Foundation Parks & Playgrounds Fund was established in 2004 to support TPL’s Parks for People Initiative. That initiative works to ensure that children enjoy close-to-home access to a park, playground or natural area. MetLife Foundation’s grant will help TPL bring new parks to underserved urban neighborhoods in New York, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles.

Following are the communities which will benefit from the expansion of the MetLife Foundation Parks & Playgrounds Fund:

  • Brooklyn, the Bronx and Harlem will be home to three new community playgrounds. More than 2,500 students and three new communities will have access to the sites.
  • TPL is actively working to establish new parks along a three-mile elevated trail in Chicago. The first access point is located in the Logan Square neighborhood and will serve more than 4,000 children under the age of 10.
  • Liberty Square, a public housing development in Miami, is looking forward to creating a play environment for the more than 1,000 children within the community. They hope it will foster creativity and provide health benefits through hands-on play activity.
  • An elementary school in Los Angeles will be transformed into an interactive outdoor learning and play environment. New walkways, landscaping, play equipment, a teaching garden, athletic fields and picnic areas will benefit students and local residents.

Neighborhood parks and open spaces not only improve physical and psychological health, but also strengthen communities, and make cities and neighborhoods more attractive places to live and work. TPL’s Parks for People Initiative is revitalizing the city parks movement. It is building partnerships among community groups, government agencies and residents through the creation of parks, play fields, playgrounds and gardens.