Park People’s Executive Director, Erika Nikolai, has been honoured with the Distinguished Individual Award from World Urban Parks—an international recognition that celebrates her leadership and the growing national movement Park People has helped build here in Canada.
Why are events in parks important? How do grants fit into Park People’s larger goals for creating change in city parks?
The emerging stream of the Park People Nature Connect Fund provides up to $5,000 to grassroots and registered organizations across Canada that connect people with nature, foster ecological stewardship, and restore urban parks and green spaces.
The scaling stream of the Park People Nature Connect Fund offers up to $20,000 to registered organizations across Canada that connect people with nature while fostering ecological stewardship and restoring urban parks.
Learn more about green social prescribing, an evolving practice that encourages individuals to reestablish connections with nature and one another to enhance their mental, physical, and social wellbeing.
A reflection on the BEING BLACK IN PUBLIC Survey Report, exploring how Black communities experience parks and public spaces, and what fosters joy and belonging.
How do we build a healthier, greener, more joyful Toronto? We start at the park. Discover how communities across the city have transformed their green spaces over the past fifteen years. Then roll up your sleeves and help shape what comes next.
By donating to Park People, you’ll support vibrant parks for everyone.
Friends of Glen Stewart Ravine
Cherie lives in the Toronto Beach neighbourhood near the Glen Stewart Ravine, which is designated as an environmentally sensitive area. My children grew up enjoying the stream there on many walks, as well as tobogganing and skating in the park south of the ravine. Between 2012 and 2015, Cherie volunteered at the Evergreen Brickworks in the greenhouse, on hikes in the Don Valley and with an event called 100 in 1 Day. In 2015, a friend, Katya Nosko, who now owns a used bookstore on Kingston Road, asked her to join her group, Friends of Glen Stewart Ravine. Since then, Cherie has been involved in organizing events, attracting volunteers, collaborating with many individuals and groups to care for the ravine through stewardship, conservancy and appreciation. They primarily use Facebook and email to communicate with our “Friends” and followers who now number about 600.
She is also an artist, so she enjoys the outdoors here and in Muskoka as a source for my work and for quiet contemplation and exercise.