Mission and Vision
Founded by a Richmond resident in 2007, Pogo Park is a community organization focused on transforming lives and opportunities by working side by side with neighborhood residents to create, program and operate public spaces. The organization got its initial start as one of the first projects that emerged from the City of Richmond’s Health Element of the General Plan. This project was the renovation of the Elm Playlot in Richmond’s Iron Triangle neighborhood. The park was occupied by drug dealers, unsafe and inaccessible to residents.
Through a set of mixed engagement strategies, including taking pictures, focus groups, and participatory design, residents came up with a new vision for Elm Playlot. The community vision was to transform the small park into an anchor public space in the middle of their neighborhood – the heart of the community – and support that space to drive broader community change efforts.
Through a set of mixed engagement strategies, including taking pictures, focus groups, and participatory design, residents came up with a new vision for Elm Playlot. The community vision was to transform the small park into an anchor public space in the middle of their neighborhood – the heart of the community – and support that space to drive broader community change efforts.
Activities for Change
By 2009, the community had developed its own re-design and with a grant from the State of California Parks Department, set in motion a strategy to rebuild Elm Playlot. The plan included training residents to do most of the construction and get paid to acquire new skills. As the process moved forward, residents built a to-sacle model of certain aspects of the park, called a “Pop-Up Park.” The ‘temporary park was open to the public and as kids and residents used the space, the design changed to respond to community suggestions and innovations.
By 2013, Pogo Park began a partnership with the Trust for Public Land and the City of Richmond to transform a two-block section of the Richmond Greenway into Harbour-8 Park. The idea was to link Elm Playlot to additional greenspace and pedestrian access to the shore and other resources within the city. A ‘yellow brick road’ – or safe paths along streets connecting to parks and other community resrouces – is now under deisgn and construction
In 2015, Pogo Park provided staffing and play programming at Harbour-8 Park to serve children who live within walking distance of this park. Pogo Park also submitted at successful $6.2 million grant to Caltrans to build the first leg of the “Yellow Brick Road” (a project to build safe streets in the Iron Triangle for children to walk and bike). As one of only 86 of 617 projects funded, the Yellow Brick Road will connect Elm Playlot directly to Harbour-8 Park, giving local children a safe, clean and green pathway to walk or bike to and from our two parks.
Today, Elm Playlot reflects the ‘design-by-doing’ approach and dozens of residents remain employed to manage the park and continue constructing new aspects of the space. A small community center (a former house next to the park) was renovated and now serves as a meeting space and kitchen to distribute food to children in the neighborhood.
By 2013, Pogo Park began a partnership with the Trust for Public Land and the City of Richmond to transform a two-block section of the Richmond Greenway into Harbour-8 Park. The idea was to link Elm Playlot to additional greenspace and pedestrian access to the shore and other resources within the city. A ‘yellow brick road’ – or safe paths along streets connecting to parks and other community resrouces – is now under deisgn and construction
In 2015, Pogo Park provided staffing and play programming at Harbour-8 Park to serve children who live within walking distance of this park. Pogo Park also submitted at successful $6.2 million grant to Caltrans to build the first leg of the “Yellow Brick Road” (a project to build safe streets in the Iron Triangle for children to walk and bike). As one of only 86 of 617 projects funded, the Yellow Brick Road will connect Elm Playlot directly to Harbour-8 Park, giving local children a safe, clean and green pathway to walk or bike to and from our two parks.
Today, Elm Playlot reflects the ‘design-by-doing’ approach and dozens of residents remain employed to manage the park and continue constructing new aspects of the space. A small community center (a former house next to the park) was renovated and now serves as a meeting space and kitchen to distribute food to children in the neighborhood.