By Kathy Chouteau
Volunteers fanned out along the perimeter of Humphrey Playlot in Richmond on Earth Day, pulling weeds, picking up trash and sprucing up planter pots, while kids pitched in and also enjoyed crafts and face painting. The neighborhood cleanup doubled as a celebration; FIERCE Advocates, a local nonprofit, announced during a ribbon-cutting ceremony that it has formally adopted the small park.
The April 22 event, touted by organizers as the Humphrey Playlot “Park Equity Anniversary and Clean-Up,” brought together neighbors and members of FIERCE Advocates’ “Friends of Humphrey Playlot” to care for a space that they collectively say has long needed investment. As rain earlier in the week left a pool of water in the playlot, the day carried an added reminder of the park’s ongoing challenges alongside its sense of community pride.
Turning lemons into lemonade, 2nd grader Deandre arrived with a large paddleboard, floating it atop the pond of water created by the rain.
Volunteers worked on weeding plants around the playlot’s edges and picking up debris around the perimeter. Organizers also installed “Slow Down” signs and set up a craft table stocked with paint activities, seeds and small plants to give away. Food and drinks were available for families, and organizers used biodegradable balloons and ribbons to decorate at the Earth Day festivities.
The ‘park equity anniversary’
In remarks to the crowd, Tashii Johnson, FIERCE Advocates’ lead organizing coordinator on the nonprofit’s Policy, Advocacy and Organizing team, described the gathering as both Earth Day and an annual marker of the neighborhood’s organizing.
“The reason why we are all gathered here on Earth Day is because this is the anniversary,” Johnson said, calling it Humphrey Playlot’s “park equity anniversary.” Each year, organizers want to clean the space, bring the community out and “celebrate the day that this community decided to take action and take their park back.”
That anniversary began, Johnson said in a pre-event interview, with an Earth Day cleanup that drew the nonprofit into park work. “Initially, park equity was not on our radar,” she said. But the neighborhood “was relentless about reaching out,” asking what it would take to get improvements such as speed bumps and other safety measures. “We actually made a very special exception for Humphrey Playlot,” Johnson said, adding that residents’ steadfast determination “captured our hearts.”
Overcoming challenges
The playlot’s recurring flooding, which Johnson told the crowd can reach more than three feet, is a persistent issue. At the Earth Day event, she noted the park was flooded “three and a half feet right now,” and estimated it was “almost four feet.” Even with those conditions, she urged volunteers to focus on what could be done that day: “We are going to clean around,” she said, “and we’re gonna let the ducks and the canoes and the boats and the kids…do their thing in the water.”
Before volunteers began the cleanup, organizers held a ribbon cutting. Johnson announced the “special surprise” teased moments earlier. “FIERCE Advocates and the Friends of Humphrey Playlot, we actually adopted this spot,” she told the crowd. “So this is our park, baby, for the next year and honestly forever forward.” Johnson added that the City of Richmond allowed FIERCE Advocates to create a sign intended for use “universally across Richmond for all adopted spots.”
Advocacy driven by heart
For Johnson, the work is as much about belonging as it is about maintenance.
“Park Equity is more than just advocacy, it is heart work,” she told the Standard in a statement. “Memories, friendships and families are made in community parks. FIERCE ‘Voices for Parks’ believes that every child deserves equitable access to a space that their imagination and exploration can soar without parents worrying about debris and harmful paraphernalia hidden beneath the mulch.”
Neighbors echoed that attachment to the small park.
“Humphrey Playlot is an important place for my family and community, where we can go to make new friends and new memories,” said Cynthia Roman.
Volunteer Camila Gonzalez said she shows up “because this park means something to our community,” adding, “Being part of improving it and seeing people come together has been really special to me.”
Hilda Nava, speaking in Spanish, said she volunteers because “las pequeñas acciones pueden crear grandes cambios” (“small actions can create big changes”), and called it inspiring to see the community unite for the park.
Funding for future progress
Organizers said the park work is supported by crucial funding. Dulce Galicia, FIERCE Advocates’ Policy Advocacy organizing manager, said the Richmond Park Equity Project granted FIERCE more than $50,000 per year over 2025, 2026 and 2027— a total of $150,000-plus to support its park equity work connected to Humphrey Playlot.
The Richmond Park Equity Project describes the work in phases. In the first phase, FIERCE has focused on “activation” of Humphrey Playlot by organizing events with neighbors and advocating for improvements, including a community visioning process.
In the second phase, the nonprofit is launching the Voices for Parks Leadership Academy to build residents’ tools, skills and “political literacy” so community members can advocate for “equitable, safe, and joyful access to parks and public spaces” and serve on local park boards and commissions.
A history of revitalization
FIERCE’s relationship with Humphrey Playlot stretches back beyond this year’s Earth Day celebration. In background information shared by Johnson, FIERCE said a $10,000 Love Your Block Mini-Grant project executed through the Black Village Network, the Richmond Park Equity Project and the Hellman Foundation revitalized the playlot on April 20, 2024. FIERCE said that event engaged 50-to-60 community volunteers, who contributed 225 total hours cleaning the park, clearing graffiti and painting 19 large planter pots.
Johnson said neighbors have pushed for changes after raising concerns ranging from recurring flooding and hidden debris under mulch to safety signage and traffic-calming measures near the playlot. Prior to Earth Day, she described the park as “not outer facing” toward the street, and said that may have contributed to disinvestment even as surrounding homes are “very well maintained” by residents, many of whom are homeowners.
Creating lasting change
FIERCE organizers say much of the work depends on a growing base of residents who return to the playlot repeatedly. Pre-event, Johnson said organizers hoped about 30 neighbors would come out for Earth Day, with “about 15 to 20” forming a core group who attend trainings and show up consistently. FIERCE has created tiered volunteer roles, including park ambassadors, core leadership and supporters. “Nobody feels like they don’t have enough time to contribute,” Johnson said.
At the Earth Day gathering, Johnson framed the afternoon as community-building as much as cleanup. “Most importantly for me, if you’re here, you’re choosing to be in community with your neighbors, and this is how we create change together,” she said.
Looking ahead, FIERCE plans to keep using the playlot as both a gathering place and an organizing hub, sharing newsletters in English/Spanish and inviting residents to connect through trainings and strategy meetings tied to its park equity work. For organizers and volunteers, the Earth Day ribbon cutting was both a celebration and a promise: That the upkeep of Humphrey Playlot—and the push for long-term improvements—will continue beyond a single afternoon.
Learn more about FIERCE Advocates and find Humphrey Playlot at 2618 Humphrey Ave. in Richmond.
