Who Is Involved

"Building Inclusive Communities in Seattle"

Archie and the Creation of Charlestown Park

Archie loves to garden. The garden in his small rental home in the Delridge neighborhood is full of plants. Archie's interest goes beyond his own yard, though. He participates in work parties cleaning up a creek that flows in a wooded ravine near his home. He also helps some of his neighbors prune their trees and weed their gardens. Archie is also the president of the West Seattle chapter of People First, an advocacy organization for people with disabilities.

The advisor for Archie's People First organization suggested that a nearby property owned by the Seattle Water Department had the potential to become a park. Archie and the other members of the group were excited by the possibility. The property had fantastic views of downtown Seattle and the Cascade mountains, and Archie and his friends began to imagine the beautiful new park they could create with their neighbors.

With their advisor's help, Archie and his group secured a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant to design the neighborhood park. Then they organized a neighborhood meeting to start the design work. They found a meeting place in a neighborhood church, posted flyers about the meeting, and doorbelled to make sure everyone in the neighborhood was invited to participate. Two months and several meetings later, the People First group and their neighbors had created a design for the park.

As the park was constructed, Archie and his group were able to take pride in the fact that it had come about because of their efforts. They were a little disappointed that there was not enough money to include all the public art features they had dreamed of, but on the whole were delighted with the new park. And as the park was designed and built, they saw themselves grow into a central and vital neighborhood organization that had started a project to unite their neighbors.

Learn more about the strategies Archie and his organization used in creating their park.