community comes together to design, build and enjoy a new park.

Community members in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan dreamed of revitalizing a small abandoned space. Working alongside Clinton Housing Development Company, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing, we brought together stakeholders to engage in a planning process.

Stakeholders included a diverse group made up of community members, elected officials, a local church, and several invested businesses. Over the course of several community meetings we discussed, dreamed, sketched and ultimately designed a park space everyone would love.

One of the local businesses, Mark Fisher Fitness, just next door, jumped on some fundraising for the park and amazingly met their goal in just two days!

(WARNING: Video content may contain silliness!)

Next, we went about building the park we had dreamed up. With three community work days we brought everyone together, got dirty, laid pavers, planted tree and flowers, ate cupcakes, played music... and celebrated!