The City of Hoboken is pleased to invite residents to join the newly formed “Friends of the Parks” groups. The groups will gather people together who have an interest and affinity for a specific park to help care for and manage that location. Friends groups will work closely with the Department of Environmental Services to build stewardship and philanthropy to improve Hoboken’s shared public places.
“Hoboken is committed not only to building out more open space, but also maintaining and improving our existing parks,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. “The “Friends of Parks” model has proven successful in other cities, and will help provide the tools and resources we need to further upgrade our parks. Thank you to Director Jen Gonzalez for leading this effort, and to all residents who sign-up to join our park groups.”
Friends of the Parks groups will provide an important asset to improving Hoboken’s parks, like similar groups in New York City, Pittsburgh, Austin, and many others. For example, New York City has hundreds of neighborhood Friends of Parks groups like Partnerships for Parks that develop volunteers into community leaders who build long-term investment in public spaces. Hoboken seeks to replicate these Friends of the Parks” groups to activate the community and improve City parks.
The City will launch three groups in 2020: Friends of Church Square Park, Friends of Elysian Park, and Friends of Jefferson Park; with more to come in the future. These groups will equip Hoboken residents who are passionate about neighborhood parks with the skills, tools, and community to work together for park improvements. The program will engage the community through volunteer programs and events, and invest in our green spaces by helping to finance projects within the parks.
Residents who are interested in joining or leading a friends group are asked to complete this form: https://seam.ly/jGniIgOn
