2023 Alma Park Neighbors Accomplishments
As the year drew to an end, the Alma Park Neighbors coordinator group met to recap accomplishments for 2023.
Consistency
Much like 2022, we were pleased to once again host neighborhood meetings every single month. These monthly gatherings drew, on average, 22 neighbors per meeting.
Our monthly newsletter was published on time every month, and our readership has continued to grow. On average, we have 115 readers per issue.
Coordination, collaboration, and partnerships
Over the course of the year, Alma Park Neighbors served as a primary point of contact for Tim McOsker’s Council District 15 office (CD15). Additionally, we served as liaisons between our neighborhood and the Los Angeles Recreations and Parks department (LARAP), the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council (CSPNC), and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). In fact, the police and even other neighborhood groups throughout the city reached out to us asking for help and information.
41 emails were exchanged with LARAP to request park maintenance.
22 emails were exchanged with CD15 advocating for park maintenance and other neighborhood safety issues.
One of our best accomplishments was getting the city to begin working on replacing the fallen fence in Alma Park, which collapsed over 10 years ago. Neighbors have been trying to get this dangerous situation remediated for a decade with no acknowledgement. This was accomplished through a partnership with the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council Emergency Preparedness and Public Safety committee (CSPNC EPPS) and Council District 15.
Alma Park Neighbors has become recognized in San Pedro as a point of contact for issues related to community improvement.
Vandalism
As always, neighbors worked tirelessly to remove or remediate vandalism, large and small.
Alma Park Neighbors were responsible for removing more than 18 acts of vandalism in the park. We track all major acts, or acts from repeat offenders and you can see our log here: 2023 Alma Park Vandalism
Using the MyLA311 app, neighbors reported 80 acts of vandalism throughout the neighborhood. This number also includes what was reported from the park.
In fact, for some of the vandalism that’s harder to get the authorities to remove, we did it ourselves using paint purchased with the generous donations of our neighbors.
Volunteers
Through much of our history, Alma Park neighbors has consisted of a very small, core group of four volunteers, who worked diligently to maintain a safe, clean, and welcoming neighborhood.
In 2023, we were very lucky to have three new volunteers join our group, and we would not have been as successful as we were without their help! One of our new volunteers moved across the country, so we now have six core volunteers who are helping us expand in new ways.
Emergency preparedness
To help ensure neighbors are prepared for an emergency, our group faciltated 11 monthly radio nets throughout the year, with an average of a little more than 7 individual check-ins at each net.
We distributed 10 radios,funded through a Neighborhood Purpose Grant from Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council.
We organized a CERT TRAINING at the LA YACHT CLUB, which graduated 20 new CERT members from Alma Park and Pt. Fermin.
Community events
We facilitated our second annual Alma Park Picnic this year, drawing over 150 neighbors together to share in food, live music, fun, and games!
We also held our second annual holiday sing-along and cookie swap this year, which was a lot of fun!
What’s coming up in 2024?
There are so many neighbors we have never met, or who may not know about the great community we have here in the Alma Park Area.
Our group will be creating some welcome packets that can be handed out as we continue to go door-to-door, block-by-block introducing ourselves and sharing all the great things going on in our neighborhood.
We’re also beginning to plan the 2024 Alma Park Picnic too, so stay tuned for more news!
