Unity and Community

Have you ever hiked in the fall and seen a larch tree—it’s bright yellow needles standing proudly against a forest of green?

Have you ever gazed at the lake from the Center for Urban Horticulture, amazed to see turtles, ducks, geese and a great blue heron all in a single frame?

Have you ever come to an Eli’s Park Project community meeting and met people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities working together for a common goal?

There’s an age-old design concept of unity in variety. Finding commonalty in things that appear different is inherently beautiful.

We are wired to appreciate diversity.

The most beautiful part of our project is the unity and variety of our community. Every voice truly matters and the more unique voices, the better. In this time that we can’t come together physically, you can still help us reach more people!

Who do you know that has ideas and experiences we need to hear?

Who do you know that is already passionate about inclusion?

Who do you know that could benefit from joining our journey?

Please help us grow our community! Only together, is it possible to create a park for all.

Thank You for Giving BIG!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who donated, shared or thought of us during #GiveBIG. We’re always grateful for your support and this year we are especially honored. With everything going on in our world, we’re thankful to have a community who believes in our project and shares our mission.

We need community more than ever before. We need equity and inclusion for all people more than ever before. We need access to nature more than ever before. This year, we appreciate you, more than ever before.

Your generosity earned us an additional $1,000 from our fiscal sponsors Seattle Parks Foundation and brings our total to $2,274,238.18!

Just $1,725,761.82 to go and together, we bring an accessible, nature-based park to our community where ALL people can come, play, rest, heal, explore and belong.

And, Rainbow Snags?

Our design team is still working hard to further develop the concepts we shared at our last meeting. Here’s a sneak peak into how your feedback is informing the park design.

This sketch is of a Treehouse Overlook, by Clayton Beaudoin, one of the talented and passionate landscape architects leading our design team. You can see from his drawing and notes the care and concern that goes into every detail of design development. Each component is vigilantly checked against your feedback, which is our true north. We're prioritizing the things that you've shared matter most to you: physical accessibility, immersive nature experiences, emotional belonging, artful design and opportunities to find both peace and community. Our incredible designers are carrying your hopes in their hearts and are beginning to put them on paper. We think the plans are looking amazing! What do you think? We cannot wait until we can gather in person to get your feedback on all the latest ideas. Until then, we’ll be sharing little previews of potential features and asking for your input. Please send any feedback you have to pmreischl@gmail.com. Our design team reads and considers every, single comment.

*All designs are still under development. We are collaborating closely with Seattle Parks and Recreation to ensure our plans meet their standards and can be maintained beautifully for many years to come.