More than 150 families gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Park Saturday for
an Easter “Family Fun Eggstravaganza,” a
tangible success in the fight to make their neighborhood safe and more family friendly.
Community Coalition helped residents fight for for a basketball and tennis court, security cameras, sanctions against
Century Market liquor store and renovation of the Martin
Luther King Therapeutic Center, which all surround the park at 39th and Western neighborhood.
The neighborhood was given a boost when the Bethune Library opened more than a year ago and the city paid more attention to the area. Residents took advantage of the spotlight and the city listened as several businesses cleaned up.
"Improvements did not happen here because someone downtown thought it
would be a good idea,” Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president and CEO of
Community Coalition, told Intersections: The South LA Report. “It happened here because you got involved.”
The project is due to receive less than $1 million from Proposition K,
a plan expected to generate $25 million each year in funds for the
improvement, construction and maintenance of Los Angeles parks and
recreation facilities, Intersections' Christine Trang reported.