“I’m excited to see this momentum and level of energy [throughout the State], because I think it really influences on the work on the local level and vice versa.” — Sandra Celedon-Castro
Though her family didn’t have the money to send her and her siblings to camp growing up, Sandra likes to say they went to the moon every summer. She grew up in Calwa - a small unincorporated community with a 19-acre park with a play structure called The Rocket. “We would climb up really high in this rocket and slide down over and over again for hours,” says Sandra. “Looking back, those experiences contributed tremendously to my advocacy today in terms of promoting access to neighborhood parks and outdoor experiences and play. It’s such an enriching opportunity that lasts a lifetime.”
Fresno Building Healthy Communities (Fresno BHC) is a coalition of community members and community- and faith-based organizations working to create one healthy Fresno – where all children and families can live healthy, safe, and productive lives. From hosting community park clean-ups to organizing annual youth nature camps and advancing policies that support park and green infrastructure, Fresno BHC is committed to increasing park access and supporting outdoor recreation opportunities. “Engaging with the Parks Now coalition has been instrumental in connecting us to other folks in the region and throughout the state,” says Sandra. “I’m excited to see this momentum and level of energy, because I think it really influences the work on the local level and vice versa.”
As a local-based organization, all of Fresno BHC’s work is driven and informed by community members themselves. “Community organizing and connecting with people on the ground is definitely not easy and it’s certainly not free,” Sandra remarks. “I would love for the Parks Now coalition to think about how to support the on-the-ground organizing work that is really the foundation for all the work that we do.”
To learn more about Sandra and the work Fresno Building Healthy Communities is doing to advance access and equity in our parks systems, visit https://www.fresnobhc.org/