Nickelodeon Volunteers Build Backyard Oasis for Los Angeles Residence
On Friday, September 13, Nickelodeon held its first ever Summer Day of Service to benefit LA Family Housing’s Pacoima Place residence. Pacoima Place houses 18 families and was most recently a pay by the hour motel before the folks at LA Family Housing put a master lease on the property.
In August, Nickelodeon's Summer Nick Animation Studio Interns (NICKterns) partnered with local org Muralism.org to paint a Nickelodeon themed around the concept of unity and family. A month later for the Summer Day of Service, about 35 volunteers braved 100 degree temperatures to transform the courtyard into a relaxation place for parents and a play space for kids. The Nickelodeon volunteers were busy turning soil, building planter beds, planting drought-tolerant plants, shoveling and wheelbarrowing gravel and mulch into the courtyard, placing weed cloth, and building a pergola, benches, and a play set. The families living at Pacoima Place now have a safe place for their children to play, and for the families to spend time together.
For this year's Summer Day of Service, our team of employees and NICKterns partnered with LA Family housing, a non-profit that helps families transition out of homelessness and poverty. Together, we headed to their Pacoima Place family site and gave their backyard a major upgrade featuring a new playground and Nicktoons mural!
From Spectrum News 1:
Nickelodeon Helps Create Pacoima Place Playground For Homeless Kids
PACOIMA, Calif. – Nancy Gomez is desperately trying to get her son out of a tree. One of the many challenges for her and the 18 other families who currently reside here at Pacoima Place, is keeping their children entertained.
But the only area where the kids can play here is in the parking lot.
Gomez has been homeless with her three children on and off for almost five years.
“It's been really hard. It's really hard. But LA Family Housing has helped me a lot. My kids have a roof over their head and we're not spending the night in a car, or on the streets or in a tent. And I really appreciate that,” said Gomez.
LA Family Housing teamed up with Nickelodeon’s Community Outreach Program, “Nick Helps,” and an organization called Muralism. They’re transforming the dirt-filled front yard of Pacoima Place into a fun and safe place for these kids to play.
“Homelessness is really hard, especially for children," said Andrea Johnson of LA Family Housing. "So when we have partners like Nickelodeon who understand that building a playground can really bring joy to a child's life, that means so much to us. So we're incredibly grateful for this partnership. And we're so grateful to have a place where children can play -- that's not in a parking lot.”
Gomez and other parents are happy their kids have a place where they can laugh and just be kids.
“My kids are my strength. They're the reason why I keep on doing what I'm trying to do,” said Gomez.
[Click here for video]
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More Nick: Nickelodeon Launches 'Nick Helps' Pro-Social Initiative!
Originally published: Sunday, October 06, 2019.
Source: 3BL Media; H/T: MarketWatch.
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