Promesa Boyle Heights is a collective impact collaborative of Proyecto Pastoral made up of over 30 partners. Promesa works to improve conditions at the individual, school, and systems level by building a movement of partner organizations, students, and families collaborating to close the opportunity gap and strengthen supports for students from cradle through college and career.
Promesa works in Boyle Heights, a community in Metro Los Angeles just East of the LA River. Areas of focus for this project include local community schools Hollenbeck Middle School, Utah St. School, and Sheridan Elementary.
Boyle Heights is among the most environmentally burdened neighborhoods in California, and is labeled a “Disadvantaged Community” by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. It is ranked 99.6% according to the CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Percentile Score, making it one of the most vulnerable LA communities.
Sandwiched between five major freeways, our neighborhood contains a high concentration of oil refineries, auto body shops, and rail yards, all causing higher-than-average pollution rates. The lack of parks and shade—combined with pollution and garbage—contributes to urban heat islands and flooding.
Promesa staff is partnering with Trust for Public Land (TPL) on the Los Angeles Green Schoolyards Initiative to help three Boyle Heights schools renovate their schoolyards with native plants and gardens, stormwater capture infrastructure that collects and cleans stormwater runoff, and open green spaces with trees that help students learn about climate resiliency and environmental justice while providing a safe, shaded area for play.
Promesa Promotoras de Justicia Ambiental–a group of Boyle Heights and East LA residents with experience in environmental justice and community engagement, particularly with Spanish speaking Boyle Heights residents–worked with Promesa staff to engage stakeholders.
Promesa’s Promotoras and Community Schools Coordinators conducted outreach and engagement to collect community input—including surveying students on design preferences, hosting concept design voting workshops for parents, and facilitating informational workshops for community residents.
Thanks to the information gathered by the Promotoras and the Community Schools Coordinators, this project is now in the design phase.
This project engaged 1,576 community members and will serve an average of 2,088 students a year.
A total of 229 trees will be planted across three schools. The new green areas will also feature native gardens, pollinator plants, and grass fields.
These green spaces will help teach students about climate resiliency and environmental justice, while supporting healthy development; studies show that interacting with green spaces promotes positive mental health, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The green spaces will also positively impact parents and other residents—the goal is to eventually open up the school’s green spaces for the general community.
Help us continue our mission of empowering the Boyle Heights community by donating funds through Proyecto Pastoral. Your gift will impact the lives of the children and families we serve.