THANKFUL FRIDAY
Cindy Maddera
Just about a block down the street, there used to be this large overgrown patch of land that was often a dumping ground for garbage. It’s where people left old mattresses and broken chairs, tires, anything easily tossed from an open window. Then one day the city came in and cleared the whole lot. They replaced the overgrown unofficial garbage dump with a park. The did this in a few areas of my neighborhood. The parks are part of a pilot water drainage system designed to take the stress off of the street gutters and funnel that water into useful irrigation. The one they built to the south of me is bigger, includes a playground and a new metal art structure. All of the parks are filled with native plants that require little maintenance and have nice walking paths that meander around and through. The parks have been a wonderful addition to this neighborhood.
Two or three times a week, my walk with Josephine takes us through the neighborhood and includes a walk through the park at the end of my street. We see rabbits and snails and birds. Yesterday there were muddy deer tracks crossing the sidewalks. This week, Josephine and I have arrived at the park around the same time as a group of black women. This group of women range between the ages of thirty something to sixty and they come dressed for working out. Which is what they proceed to do. Someone sets a timer on their phone and the women start walking the loop of the whole park, round and round until the timer beeps. Some carry small hand weights. They all have masks and wear them. Every time I see these women, I smile and say “good morning!” and they respond cheerfully with their own chorus of ‘hellos and good mornings’. Josephine and I move on and leave the park to them, but on the inside I am high-fiving and cheering these women on.
According to the U.S. Department of Health, four out of five African American women are overweight or obese, which leads to higher probabilities of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. There are many factors, mostly socioeconomic, but a lot of it has to do with having access to affordable healthy options. Keep in mind what I said before. These parks are a pilot program. They didn’t start it in the expensive neighborhoods like Brookside or the Country Club. They started this program in the poorer communities. The city saw the value of investing in healthy spaces in poorer communities because when we create healthy spaces for communities, we create an environment for healthy living. Regardless of race. This group of women is proof of that. Every time I walk or drive by one of these parks, I see people walking the paths. These people are proof of that.
I feel very fortunate to live in this neighborhood.