Park Pride had the honor and privilege to support playground improvements at A.D. Williams Park in the Brookview Heights neighborhood of Atlanta with a $75,000 grant from our Grantmaking Program. And on April 6, 2022, we celebrated these improvements with a ribbon cutting!
Park Pride’s Executive Director, Michael Halicki, joined Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Commissioner of Atlanta’s Dept. of Parks & Recreation, John Dargle, Council Member Dustin Hillis, Chief of Police Rodney Bryant, Lieutenant of the Police Athletic League, Albert Carter, and Ms. Ola Reynolds from NPU-G, in a program that highlighted history, collaboration, and partnership to make a real difference for Atlanta’s kids and communities.
For almost 20 years, Park Pride has been making dreams come true through grant awards to community groups seeking to revitalize their neighborhood greenspaces. The Grantmaking Program is generously supported by the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation, the City of Atlanta, and others. To date, Park Pride has awarded over $12.7 million to park projects, with over 50% of awards in the past 2 years going to parks in low-income areas.
Our mission is to engage communities to activate the power of parks and we believe every community deserves access to a quality park that meets their needs. The Friends of A.D. Williams Park reflect this vision in their commitment to creating safe and active places for neighborhood kids to play. Leveraging their Park Pride grant, they’ve partnered with the Department of Parks and Recreation, Rebuilding Together Atlanta, Police Athletic League, and others to make the park more welcoming for all. With these improvements, we hope youth in the neighborhoods surrounding A.D. Williams Park, as well as youth attending Atlanta PAL and the Coretta Scott King and Best Academy will benefit with a place to have fun, relax, and spend time in nature.
As the Friends group continues to build capacity, we will be excited to see the impact of their efforts in the park through partnership and teamwork.