The Conscious Connect was one of six organizations nationally to receive $400,000 in phase 2 funding from the Prevention Institution that will run through June 2026.
“This level of funding over several years is a true reflection that national leaders recognize how strong the Unified Collective is here — and that a group of small, but mighty southside organizations have established one of the most vibrant grassroot ecosystems of pocket parks, greenspaces, and community gardens in the country,” said Karlos L. Marshall, co-founder and co-executive director of The Conscious Connect CDC.
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Over the next few months, the group will focus on zoning, government planning, communications, and additional public-private partnerships and technical support, Marshall said.
They want to make sure revisions to the city’s zoning codes incorporate urban farming provisions to address the ongoing food desert and enable mixed-use zoning to spur community development, and they want to make sure the city’s consolidated plan continues to advance efforts to redevelop the southside, “which has suffered from a lack of investment,” he said.
P3 was the first in the U.S. to “support community-based organizations to build power and reverse deep seated park and green space inequities in Black, Latinx and Indigenous communities across the country.”
Phase 1 brought together a cohort of organizations, called the Unified Collective, which is a “multifaceted coalition of independent nonprofits that champion southside community development and serve as a catalyst for multigenerational advocacy between residents, policy makers, government officials, and community leaders,” Marshall said.
Phase 1 partners included 1159 South CDC, Green Environmental Outreach, Melrose Acres, and the Young Black Professionals and Businesses of Springfield.
The organization received their first two-year $500,000 grant in 2022 for phase 1.
During phase 1, the Unified Collective conducted extensive outreach, capacity building and awareness activities including establishing a coalition of organizations that wanted to examine the impact of public policies on park equity; train residents representing southwest neighborhoods to advocate for public policies and increase community awareness around public health, park access and land use equity; and conduct research that improve park and green space access.
They also gathered 250 survey responses from residents and created a comprehensive analytic map that highlights disparities in southside neighborhoods across several key areas such as park and greenspace accessibility, environmental health, public health and safety, and programming.
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“We learned that although there are parks that exist in the community they are not currently heavily utilized due to safety concerns and outdated amenities. This also highlighted the need for a multi-generation, multi-amenity park,” said Destinye Arnold, Director of Strategic Initiatives of The Conscious Connect CDC.
“There are no multi-amenity parks located within the inner southwest quadrant of the city. The community is also interested in engaging at parks and greenspaces with active programming.”
The Conscious Connect CDC also received a $75,000 community development block grant (CDBG) from the City of Springfield to improve four southside pocket parks and gardens that are owned and operated by coalition organizations. These include the Grand Avenue Family Park, Springfield Promise’s Visioning Garden, Auburn J Tolliver Peace Garden, and GEO’s garden.
“The continued success of this initiative rests on the Unified Collective maintaining the community’s trust to actively advocate on their behalf and amplify their voices,” Arnold said. “Equally vital is fostering partnerships with government entities and private businesses to drive systemic and policy changes that address park and greenspace disparities in Springfield.”