Public Places : Humphrey Park: Revived With Love and Money

Youths growing up in North Pacoima in the 1960s and ‘70s played ball and swam in the pool at Hubert Humphrey Memorial Park, a 9.5-acre Los Angeles City park in a neighborhood of post-World War II housing tracts. But by the 1980’s when Ramon Cerrillos, now 19, grew up here, budget cuts and a user fee system had left parks in low-income areas with little money for recreation programs. Without active use parks often become magnets for crime. Humphrey Park, which was taken over by a local gang and avoided by the community.

In 1993, the Parks Department realized it needed outside help to mobilize the community to take the park back. Officials asked People for Parks, a nonprofit park support group serving L.A. County, to coordinate a series of meetings with community and business leaders, recreation administrators, the city council, neighbors and the police. New programs were developed and people in the neighborhood started coming back.

A year later, the turnaround is still in progress, but park usage has dramatically increased. Halloween night 350 kids came to a festival, the youth soccer program has 17 teams, and now the community comes out to play and watch sports and picnic.

AL HENRIQUEZ

Recreation Director, Humphrey Park

When you get kids involved it makes the park a home for them and it deters gangs. Now we’re also trying to get gang members involved. Gang members often get in trouble because they don’t have any activities. We make contact through an ex-gang member. Friday nights we cook up hot dogs or carne asada to get them here and then we sign them up for the program. It’s a coed program and the presence of girls seems to have a calming effect. Vandalizing the facility and graffiti never ceases as a problem but we’re making a difference with some of these kids.

RAMON CERILLOS

Recreation Assistant

We had no sports when I grew up here. Everybody was scared to come to Humphrey Park. I used to be a gang member, but I wanted to make a change, so I volunteered to help build the sports program. A lot of us have little brothers and sisters and you want to install some kind of pride in the kids. They can get pride that way instead of joining a gang.

JACK FOLEY

Board member, People for Parks; Professor of Leisure Studies and Recreation, Cal State Northridge

People are afraid of crime so they build more prisons. We try to build life chances. We do it through recreation activities and giving children more involvement with adults.

We do things that are very cost effective. Sometimes a child being on a soccer team keeps that child out of jail.

Public Places columnist Jane Spiller welcomes suggestions for places that are publicly accessible and free. Contact her c/o Voices.