"NATURE IN THE CITY"

Proposal for creation of The Earth Harmony Children's Park and Community Garden

........."For the young at heart"........

August 14, 1997

To be established next to the Earth Day Mural on the border of North Hollywood and Van Nuys on Sherman Way.

The neighborhoods of Van Nuys and North Hollywood near Sherman Way used to be host to dairy farms, several large ponds with fish and frogs, and open space for children and adults to play and enjoy.

However, over the past twenty years, our community has watched theponds be replaced by parking lots, the dairy farms by shopping centers, and our local community has sadly watched the rise of trashed alley ways, graffitti, bars and nightclubs, without adding any additional areas of culture or community. Instead fences have gone up keeping people away from the last natural areas that remain. This has led to a stressful situation which is known to trigger outbreaks of violence and problems.

Most importantly, aside from the streets, there is nowhere for children to play or teens to interact in community games or recreation. Four and five year old kids spend hours playing in streeets and alleys, a hazard to their safety. On the quarter mile stretch of road between Varna and Woodman on Sherman Way, there are 4 rest and retirement homes for the elderly. Many of these residents are able to move about in wheelchairs, yet the only place for them to go is the busy street, laden with cars, busses, traffic, billboards, traffic lights and buildings. They then return to the rest home where they are confined to watching television the rest of the day. And yet, directly across the street from their dwellings is a locked gate which leads to a long stretch of unused land where there is solitude and quietness, a welcome relief from the sounds of honking horns and rushing cars.

With very little money and effort, this area can be transformed into a respite of beauty and wonder for all who live in the vicinity. It is the perfect site for a children's park and community garden. It is our intent to reclaim this neglected and unused piece of land, and to turn it into a community restoration project. Here the elderly could take daily wheelchair excursions to view the local youth and teens tending the vegetable gardens and some might even garden alongside them. They would enjoy viewing the mural, and watching children swing on swings, laugh and play on the playgrounds made from recycled materials including tires and scrap lumber. Local businesses would have the opportunity to be co-sponsers in this project to beautify and restore the community. In this immediate vicinity there is a landscape nursery, building and paint supply company who would be able to donate materials and promote their business and become community heroes.

This area is densely populated with low income Spanish speaking residents whose apartments are often filled with two or more families sharing extremely limited space. Kids are constantly on the lookout for new ways of playing and spending their after school and weekend hours. Many of the local children have already begun joining together with the Earth Harmony Foundation whose headquarters is in this community, in projects cleaning up trashed alleys, planting trees and vegetables and singing in the Earth Harmony choir. The Earth Harmony foundation envisions this project to be a forum for interacton between children, teens, adults, and elderly and has designed the Earth Harmony Children's Park and Community Garden for the Young at Heart. We would utilize those individuals who have had traffic violations and are doing community service to participate in trash collecting from the alleyways; tending and planting in the garden to grow food for the homeless or taking part in the wheelchair pushing program for the elderly. The benefits to the community will be truly astounding.

The Earth Harmony Children's Park and Community Garden:

1.**Featuring the official dedication ceremony of the completed "It's Earth Day Every Day" Mural with the Mayor, public officials, sponsors and media

2. **Tree planting in Memorial Grove as a living legacy to the memory of departed loved ones.

3.**Children's playground built using recycled materials.

4. **Community Garden growing food for the homeless.

5. **Walking, Jogging, Bike Riding, Rollerskating,and Wheelchair Path.

6. **Teens game area featuring volleyball court, hoseshoe toss area, and gymnastic rings fitness area.

7. **Mini outdoor arena for children's singalong concerts with picnic tables.

8. **Koi fish pond and rock garden.

9. **Eco Energy and Water Educational Center featuring water catchment system, solar panels lighting the mural at night, (composting toilet).

10**Native Plant Garden alongside pathway with local fauna and flora with name description of plants for identification

Future Expansion Plans: There is a building for sale directly across the street from our proposed site called the Golden Valley Auditorium. The Earth Harmony Foundation would like to use this building to hold community meetings, classes on sustainable gardening, and provide arts, drama and music workshop programs. Weekly family concerts could be held for the four adjacent retirement homes. The local youth could perform musical productions with educational themes of Earth Stewardship and positive, healthful living. They will have the opportunity to utilize their talents and creativity whilst participating in a program that promotes alternatives to involvement with violence and drug and alcohol abuse.

*****This park is a prototype for many additional parks to be developed from abandoned parking lots, unused corners or any other city, county or private properties that could be donated or willed to The Earth Harmony Foundation for conversion into a community asset such as described in this proposal.******

The Earth Harmony Children's Park and Community Garden for the 'young at heart'

Steps of Completion:

Phase 1.

Permission was granted by Chuck Lapelis, the owner of Sunbelt Properties to paint an inspiring mural over reccuring unsightly graffitti on the west facing side of his building. The Earth Harmony Foundation donated over $5,000 to fund this project, utilizing the talents of highly acclaimed eco-artists Erial and Dov. The mural, simply titled "It's Earth Day Every Day" took six months to complete in the heat of the summer of 1994. Facing the west, 200 feet in length by 20 feet in height, the mural greets Sherman Way pedestrians and vehicle passengers with an inspiring and joyful reminder of man's connection to nature and the earth. It was the vision of Eco artist/activist/musician Dov and grew out of his passionate fight to protect and save the local Sunshine Canyon, where he would spend many hours hiking and connecting with nature. It's beautiful stream and forest of 4500 oak trees was home to countless deer, eagles, hawks, skunks, rabbits, foxes, lizards, frogs, and birds. Fifty feet of the mural depicts Sunshine Canyon. Despite attempts by Dov and the Earth Harmony Foundation, Supervisor Antonovich, Councilman Berson, and the North Valley Coalition, sadly, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved BFI's request to destroy the canyon, cut down the trees and build a landfill for the city's trash. Although thousands of trees and animals have been lost, a public awareness campaign requesting support for forest preservation and recycling alternatives could prevent future destruction. This is part of the mission of the Earth Harmony Foundation.

Phase 2.

The proposed site is the area directly beside the mural and extends northward to the railroad track. The circumference in completely fenced on all sides. This land is currently owned jointly by the County and City of Los Angeles, and is monitored by the Pacific Bell Phone Company who has the keys to these gates. Since we are a nonprofit 501c3 foundation, we are at this time requesting permission to use the land for the children's park or gain access to it with a lease at one dollar a year. We ask that the gates and locks be changed for access to the public to allow wheelchairs, bikes, dogs on leashes, and foot traffic only. (not any vehicles)

Phase 3.

A water catchment system and tank will be installed along with solar panels for lighting the mural at night, and a composting toilet. These will serve as models to the community of ways of sustainable gardening, water reuse and earth friendly technology. Rainfall from the adjacent building will be directed via gutters and a pipe into the tank and stored for watering the garden. The equipment will be donated. A compost area will be set up for local grass clipping to be utilized for fertilizing the organic vegetable garden. A similar project is in operation as the Ecohouse in Silverlake where visitors can see and experience advances in sustainable living and energy conservation techniques that are available to the public now.

Phase 4.

Contact local businesses to donate children's playground, volleyball, horseshoe, and rings equipment, picnic tables, building supplies, composting toilet, vegetable seeds, fruit trees and plants, trees for memorial path, and gardening equipment.

Phase 5.

Community volunteer day every Saturday to work at the park to assemble playground, to plant and tend garden. The Foundation will provide guided eco tours, which will educate the public about sustainable living practices. Also the foundation will host weekend singalong children's concerts to inspire and empower youth to become global stewards. This will be a wonderful opportunity to unite the entire commmunity; young and old alike. Everyone will come to realize their common bond, that we all share the same backyard; the Earth, and recognize the opportunity to think globally and act locally, making their corner of the globe: their neighborhood, a more beautiful and healthy place to live in harmony with each other and the Earth.

This first Children's Park and Garden will be dedicated to the spirit and memory of The Earth Harmony Foundation's Co-founder, David Chase. David volunteered much of his time to helping special needs children and assisting the Earthsave Foundation, as well as using his voice to speak out in favor of forest and wilderness preservation. The homocide investigation following his untimely death in Colorado has not yet been resolved. His widow Judi Chase hopes that this park will allow David's wish for all children to experience the deep connection and reverence for the Earth that he felt. She wants to establish a Memorial Tree Grove at one end of the park so that people may come and plant a tree to honor their departed loved ones. Each tree will have a lamenated photo and name plaque as a living legacy to the memory of their loved one.

This is the first of many Children's Parks and the second one is already underway on the Lelani Estates land on the Big Island of Hawaii along with the proposed purchase of 10 acres of land for a children's eco-arts camp and health and rejuvenation retreat center.

Thank you for support and if you feel strongly about any of these issues write your supervisor or councilman.. especially about protecting the local forests............