Outdoor Activities for Jersey City Residents
The Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association is dedicated to improving the park and its surrounding neighborhood, so that children and adults have a clean, safe place to live, gather and play.
The association maintains a Community Garden with managed flowerbeds and community plots for vegetables, and provides Yoga classes in the park during the summer months. In addition, they promote community involvement, working with the City on issues like street cleanliness, local development, tree planting and traffic management.
HealthierJC + Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association
The Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association mission to provide a greener, safer and healthier outdoor space revitalizes dense urban community environments by restoring park facilities, planting trees, and lobbying to improve the community park experience. The association has prioritized the renovation of playground equipment and the basketball court so that everyone has a place to exercise and play. By sustaining a vibrant community garden and offering composting facilities to help reduce ecological footprints, the association also encourages eating behaviors to align with a HealthierJC.
The Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association program closely aligns with the HealthierJC mission to expand access to quality education, promote fellowship, and build future community leaders. In awarding the mini-grant, HealthierJC acknowledged the contribution of Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association in advancing a Culture of Health in Jersey City.
Free Mini-Grant Programs
Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association launched two successful programs in Jersey City Heights using the HealthierJC Mini-Grant:
- Pre-Covid | Free Public Seed Planting Workshop
- Post Covid | Free Public Summer Yoga series
These programs benefited approximately 100 Jersey City Ward C residents of all ages from diverse cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Pre-Covid | Free Public Seed Planting Workshop
During the Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association park re-opening in October 2019, a family seed planting workshop was conducted in the community garden. During the workshop, people learned to plant windowsill herbs to promote access to fresh foods during the winter months.
The workshop was a hit… people were genuinely excited to take home what they had planted!
Given the location of the garden is a bit hidden in the park, most attendees were not aware of its existence prior to the workshop. The seed planting activity was the perfect way to get residents and their families introduced to the community garden. It raised their “farm-to-table” awareness, and prompted workshop attendees to return in the spring to grow their own plots. In 2020, there were 10 successful community garden vegetable plots.
The seed planting workshop helped the Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association establish a successful community garden that fosters healthy eating and outdoor activity in a Jersey City neighborhood that has limited green space and deemed a food desert.
- Post-Covid | Free Public Summer Yoga Series
In partnership with Local Sattva Yoga Studio, the Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association offered a free summer Yoga in the park series every Tuesday. Class size ranged from 6-11 people, with many repeat attendees and very positive class feedback.
People frequently commented that they are so happy to be able to get outside and join a group activity after the isolation of the covid lockdown. To move outside with others in the evening breeze was refreshing physically and mentally. Several attendees expressed interest in expanding the program to include classes teaching other forms of group exercise and meditation.
Moving Forward….
The Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association hopes to offer more exercise programs in the future and have reached out to local instructors to build a spring to fall community offering. They are also planning recurring spring and fall gardening workshops, and events to promote resident involvement in planting and harvesting community garden plots.
The overall goal is to increase awareness and offer Jersey City constituents the opportunity to experience, create and benefit from Sgt. Anthony Park resources. Committed to advancing public health, the association looks forward to partnering and collaborating with HealthierJC on broader community nutrition and wellness initiatives.
For more information on Sgt. Anthony Park Neighborhood Association, please visit the organization’s website at https://sgtanthonypark.com/ or call their local number at (347) 264-5530