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Your County Parks & Beaches
Home
About
Our Why
Board, Advisors and Staff
2020 in review
2019 in Review
WHAT WE DO
Park Finder - What's Open?
ACCESS & INCLUSION
>
Activities for YOU
>
Art Hike Challenge
LoopLaps ParkRx
>
ParkRx Provider Page
Ability Outdoors for Health
>
Inclusion Outdoors
Latinx Salud in Parks
>
Live Oak Walking/Caminando
Distance Learning Enrichment
Covengers Virtual Fitness
Fitness at the Park
Partner Activities we Support
>
Black Surf Club Santa Cruz
Black Health Matters
Park Improvements
>
Felt Street Park Shady Ladies
Hidden Beach Playground Improvements
LEOs Haven at Chanticleer Park
>
Inclusion Outdoors
Seacliff Improvements
Connect with us
DONATE
FAQs
Membership
FAQs
Connect
Map
Your County Parks & Beaches
County Park Friends is an ally partner organization to TWDCC's Black Health Matters Initiative.
Our role is to listen, learn, hold safe spaces and provide support as defined by BHM Leadership.
Visit the Black Health Matters Initiative Website
Black Health Matters Founder, Cat Willis
What is the Black Health Matters Initiative?
COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Black communities all over the country. The same is true right here in Santa Cruz County. To this end, TWDCC has teamed up with County Park Friends to bring COVID- safe, TWDCC “click and mortar” classes, cultural programs and health resources to county park spaces. We have partnered with an advisory group of local organizations; the NAACP local SC chapter, United Way of SC County, Blended Bridges, and the SCC Black Coalition for Racial Justice and Equity to help guide our work and reach our community countywide.
We lead this effort through the arts and culture, which speak to the tradition of gathering, of sharing, and our human need to have fresh air, community, and joy at the heart of a healthy life. In addition to being high-risk for COVID-19 infection, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reports serious and negative effects “across different areas of [Black] people’s lives, including...with household finances, jobs, health care, housing, transportation, caregiving, and well-being.”
TWDCC’s Black Health Matters Initiative focuses needed attention and community partnership to address the social determinants of health in our local Black community. Inviting folks outside into our beautiful county parks, with COVID-safe models, can be done. "What better way to support the community than through art-based, healthy activities together in the park?” says Cat Willis, Executive Director of the Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center (TWDCC).
“Our Parks and public spaces offer a canvas for COVID-safe health and healing during this difficult time. Together we can forge a future for our new normal that centers equity and builds from strength,” adds Mariah Roberts, Executive Director of County Park Friends.
Although this initiative is just beginning, establishing an ongoing arts and health driven platform of services and resources for Black SC families to access throughout the pandemic is our priority. We know that the work that we do to support families and individuals who are most vulnerable strengthens all of us and ensures our whole community is not just surviving, but thriving.
RESEARCH: THE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS ON HOUSEHOLDS, BY RACE/ETHNICITY