Interim Park Activation for Long-Term Healing

Green space, park access, and trees

South LA

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Too many low-income and BIPOC communities in Los Angeles live with the legacies of environmental racism: contaminated land, abandoned industrial sites, and a persistent lack of access to parks and open space. Former oil drilling and industrial parcels—like the Jefferson Drill Site in South LA—often sit fenced off for years, sometimes decades, due to lengthy legal, environmental, and bureaucratic processes. This status quo reinforces cycles of blight, disinvestment, and community harm. Meanwhile, residents continue to face environmental health risks, social isolation, and a lack of healing spaces. We believe that communities shouldn't have to wait for permanent construction to access nature, belonging, and restoration. We aim to interrupt this pattern by testing a replicable model that brings nature, joy, and belonging to communities long before breaking ground.

This grant will support the early-stage activation of the former Jefferson Drill Site, transforming it into a temporary ecological and cultural space during the multi-year planning process for its future permanent park and affordable housing development. Despite its toxic history, preliminary remediation has stabilized the site’s surface, making it safe for short-term, above-ground use. Rather than let this land sit vacant—a common reality in disinvested neighborhoods—we aim to reclaim it now for healing, joy, and stewardship.
We will begin with community design workshops, ecological education, and the installation of a test plot modeling habitat restoration while monitoring soil conditions. Our vision includes large-scale storytelling murals by local artists, pop-up wellness and cultural events, and hands-on activities rooted in environmental and creative expression.
By collaborating with local residents, organizations, and experts, we will build collective ownership of the site while preparing for construction to break ground within the next 2-3 years.
We aim to share this model as a replicable approach to reclaiming neglected lands in disinvested neighborhoods and show that nature-based healing and green equity can begin before full development.

This project will offer a new model for reclaiming neglected industrial sites—showing that nature, culture, and healing don’t have to wait for years of legal and planning delays. A historically disinvested South Los Angeles neighborhood will gain immediate access to green space, creative expression, and cultural belonging through a temporary park that evolves into a permanent community hub.
This initiative disrupts the norm of letting contaminated or underused land sit idle for decades. Instead, it proves that even modest investments in interim use can restore dignity, safety, and connection.
Our long-term vision is to scale this approach across Los Angeles—informing policy, supporting other land stewards, and shifting how we value time, healing, and joy in environmental justice.