Victoria Burgos recently joined Park Pride’s Community Building team as the Volunteer Program Associate! Victoria will focus on myriad of tasks including: distributing resources to increase the capacities of neighborhood communities surrounding the BeltLine, administering the Adopt-the-BeltLine program, and facilitating meaningful volunteer experiences.
“I’m excited to work with genuine people to influence conscientious change locally.” ~Victoria Burgos
Victoria is from Northern Mississippi, but now resides in Atlanta and is happy to be a part of our team. For fun, you can find Victoria doing anything from doing arts and crafts, dancing, reading, and practicing Spanish.
Get to know a little bit more about Victoria:
Why are parks important to you?
Parks and places of recreation are the quality of life pieces – what folks generally remember while thinking of good times. How and where people spend their leisure time affects all other parts of life. Greenspaces serve serious environmental purposes in the way they support the local ecosystem and protect our air and water quality. People and the planet itself are in dire need of positive change now, and this work is a direct means to this end.
Park Pride’s mission is “to engage communities to activate the power of parks.” What does this mean to you?
Building respect for parks and greenspaces is more than simply putting out an “open to the public” sign. There could be any number of reasons for why some people are not already active in these spaces, ranging from logistical (too far from home or work, physically inaccessible, only tend to go for a certain purpose/with certain people, etc.) to more personal (negative historical narratives of certain outdoor spaces, self-consciousness when utilizing parks for fitness purposes, perceptions of safety, etc.). The real fun comes from getting to know community members and finding out their individual reasons for engagement, or lack thereof, to assist in bridging that divide so that everyone can enjoy these amenities more fully.
Why should communities be vocal about their parks?
In this time of rampant environmental degradation and neighborhood transition, it is on all of us to act now and decide what our respective areas will look and feel like in the future. For parks to truly meet everyone’s needs, those needs should be made known.
If you could share a message with the community, what would you say?
Question everything, pay attention to what’s happening in your community, and don’t be afraid to think differently than your peers. You have to act now to build the world that you want. I would also add that you’re capable of so much more than you realize!
Now for some fun questions. What was your favorite subject in school?
Public policy, for sure. It’s critical to know how to read the trends and mentalities of our public servants.
What’s your favorite park memory?
As of late, my favorite thing to do is to spend time in the park listening to live music!
Welcome to the team, Victoria!