The Power of Washington’s Open Park Spaces

Photo by Zach Lucero on Unsplash

Growing up in the Petworth section of the District of Columbia, I was 10 years old before I saw my first real park. I didn’t realize at the time that it would be my salvation from the drugs and violence that were ravaging my community. It would have been preposterous then to think that within 16 years I would be running youth programs in parks throughout the metropolitan area — and offering the same extraordinary opportunities that I had to countless others.

This article was originally published on HuffPost. Read more…