By Mary Celis, Director of Health Initiatives
January 2020 - In Paterson, NJ, more than 200 area residents, local officials, and local non-profit and community leaders met to commemorate the opening of the new Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Park in August 2019. Coinciding with the 56th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream speech, the city held a ribbon-cutting to unveil an eight-foot-tall bronze statue of Dr. King sculpted by artist Stan Watts, as well as an 8’ x 20’ mural. Funds for the project were provided by the United Way, part of the Invest Health city team, and Passaic County through its Open Space Trust Fund. Paterson Mayor Andre’ Sayegh said, “Parks are my priority. MLK Park is an example of how we can transform a neighborhood and enhance Paterson’s image.” The park is a central part of the Invest Health efforts for the Paterson city team. Click here to learn more about the Invest Health team.
Improving parks, gardens, and green spaces is one of the strategies outlined in the Building a Culture of Health Blueprint for Action to improve community safety and neighborhood cohesion. One of our key partners implementing this strategy is Paterson Habitat for Humanity, which is leading Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design efforts in Paterson’s Fourth Ward and helped lead the efforts to redevelop MLK Park.
To learn more about MLK Park, click here.
For more information about the Building a Culture of Health: Blueprint for Action in Passaic County please contact Mary Celis, Director of Health Initiatives, United Way of Passaic County at maryc@unitedwaypassaic.org or visit our Facebook page:@PassaicFood.
Please read more about our progress here: Blueprint for Action Progress Report.
This post was first published on the NJ Health Initiatives website on January 17, 2020 https://www.njhi.org/submissions/commemorating-dr-king-in-paterson/