Felt St Park serves a vital role in our community. After-school programs, youth soccer practices, birthday parties, team celebrations, and quinceañeras. Although Felt St Park is widely used and well-loved, it suffers from frequent graffiti and was impacted by recent vandalism. We are fundraising for colorful murals, improved shade, and needed repairs. Felt St Park needs our help!
Our first ever event called "Wheelie Good Time" was amazing! We built community, covered costs and raised $1600! Thank you!
Thanks BIKE Partners Ecology Action and Bike Santa Cruz County led group bicycle rides with support from the Community Bike Collective to Felt St Park from Jade St Park and Frederick St Park. At Felt St Park, the Harbor High Bike Tech team was available to help with repairs Thanks SKATE partners NHS provided cool skate swag and activities while the Santa Cruz Boardroom facilitated a “Random Acts of Shredness” skateboard jam for all abilities – prizes awarded for positive attitude and smiles! Thanks CAR partners Impalas Car Club had some sweet classic cars to display at the Center for Spiritual Living parking area Thanks PERFORMANCE partners Young Outdoor Leaders of County Park Friends performed "Danza de Diablos y Viejitos" DJ Jahi supplied the tunes Thanks FOOD partners Areparia831, Evil Wings, and the Aparicio Family ice cream truck had yummy food available to purchase Thanks COMMUNITY partners Cradle to Career, Central Fire, American Medical Response, Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County, the Live Oak Education Foundation, Cub Scouts Pack 676 had booths and family activities on the grassy lawn
During the year of 2020 in the middle of a global pandemic, when the BLM movement rumbled and Santa Cruz was hit with wildfires, our Live Oak community had a desperate need of an open space. We needed a space where we could express our fears, our sadness and our big emotions; a space to inspire each other with kindness and hope to help our community to feel good. With the help and support of County Parks Friends, we were able to adopt Felt St Park for a beautification plan that included a Labyrinth. More than anything, our desire was to create an open space where our community will feel safe and experience a sense of belonging. The Labyrinth project included guided rock painting lessons for the kids while the mamas worked in the park. All the community participants had the opportunity to express on a rock painted with art: their emotions, feelings and thoughts. We chose a Labyrinth because it is our way to acknowledge that we live on native land and Native Americans believe that each human being is traveling through life as if through a maze, taking many turns while growing stronger and wiser. That is my desire for my community. Yes, underserved communities face a lot of issues but that does not define us because in unity we are strong and resilient. Leading with the heart, this labyrinth became a possibility, then a reality, community-made for you to enjoy.
Yadira Flores, Project Leader
Our Story: The Shady Ladies Team
One evening in the fall 2019, our Neighborhood Book Club gathered to discuss the book The Necklace by Cheryl Jarvis. This is a story about the power of a motivated group who joined together to improve a community project and has inspired us to do the same. We’ve chosen to work together to enhance a place we all love and that is used daily by our community – Felt Street Park. There is a broad spectrum of users enjoying the park at any given time: toddlers and school age kids playing in the playground, teens in the skate park, families and friends celebrating birthdays, soccer practices, people of all ages enjoying a stroll or bike ride around the field, gathering for bocce ball games, or simply enjoying a picnic on the lawn. But unfortunately, Felt Street Park lacks shade, and on warm days there’s no place for people to retreat from the sun. Two of the trees have died and were removed, and there is no shade structure for people to take cover. This is an opportunity for our community to come together, replace these 2 trees, build a shade structure, and ensure everyone of all generations can gather year-round in safety, relaxation, and fun. Our Neighborhood Book Club has joined with County Park Friends who have worked hard to improve several parks in the Santa Cruz County area. We invite you to join our team to achieve this much needed goal of creating shade for Felt Street Park. Help us “THROW THE SHADE” – Lets do this! In gratitude, The Shady Ladies
