When Alethia Tanner Park began welcoming visitors in June 2020, demand couldn’t have been higher. Learn how Eckington Parks & Arts (EP&A) became a community force, with ambitions to build lifelong stewards and advocate for public space in a neighborhood that lacks access to greenery.
In June 2019, a few dozen Eckington residents came together with a vision for a neighborhood with better access to greenery and a culture of stewardship toward public space.
Today, Eckington Parks & Arts (E&PA) is a community organization that boasts a dedicated board and a voting membership body that donate their time, money, and passions to advocate and improve the green spaces in the Northeast neighborhood.
“Northeast D.C. really doesn’t have many green spaces,” says President of Eckington Parks & Arts Shoshana Sommer, “We have significantly fewer mature trees, we’re a heat sink with a huge amount of pavement, and not enough green buffer strips in our neighborhoods.”
That’s why, amidst a year of citywide clamoring for outdoor space and the opening of Alethia Tanner Park in June 2020, EP&A’s ascent couldn’t have come at a better time. The organization directs much of its resources toward maintaining the dog park and advocating for Tanner Park and other green spaces, all of which have experienced high volumes of use during the pandemic.
When District street cleaning services were suspended due to COVID-19, E&PA commissioned their volunteer force to host bimonthly cleanup events on first and third Saturdays.
“With a little less support from city services, trash and bulk waste built up in the neighborhood. We were able to take some of the frustrations of that but turn it into something positive,” said Sommer. Voicing their concerns publicly, they contacted representatives, organized letter-writing campaigns, and provided testimony at a District Council meeting advocating for more resources to clean up public spaces.
But encouraging safe and proper use of the dog park is a primary focus of the organization’s work. Without funding from the District, E&PA is responsible for its day-to-day maintenance, relying on donations from park users that go toward turf cleanings, waste bags, and signage with friendly reminders of rules and ways to get involved.
Sommer, who brings her Australian shepherd Zahvi to the dog park on a weekly basis, said, “It’s created a lot of community and opportunity to see people outside in a safe way during the pandemic.”
Now as the District reopens and emerges from COVID-19, E&PA is venturing into programming. Through the warmer months, the organization will host a yoga series and recurring storytime in the park. They will even be partnering with a local art studio to offer tours and DC Library to host book bike visits. Events are open to the public with priority RSVPs for EP&A members.
“We’re able to help advocate and give people the opportunity to come together for our neighborhood, and have a more powerful voice that way,” said Sommer.
As a partner organization of Green Spaces for DC, Eckington Parks & Arts is part of a larger citywide movement for equitable access to parks and open spaces. “We see what Green Spaces’ efforts to increase, promote, and support public spaces look like and find our own ways to work on a smaller scale for our neighborhood, said Sommer.
“Our involvement also gives us an opportunity, as a Northeast parks association, to have some input into a D.C.-wide organization.”
Learn more about Eckington Parks & Arts by visiting https://eckingtonparks.com/ and learn more about becoming a “Friend” here.