Page 5 - wildlands 2024 spring Newsletter v2_Neat

Wildlands Helps D.W. Field

Park Grow by 30 Acres

D.W. Field Park, Brockton and Avon

Acre for acre, city parks may do more for people, wildlife, and the planet than any other natural setting. In Brockton and Avon, an urban
oasis just got 30 acres larger, thanks to public and private funders and overwhelming community support.
In March, the Town of Avon finalized the purchase of a 30-acre woodland parcel on the western edge of D.W. Field Park, Brockton and
Avon’s most beloved community resource. The acquisition, facilitated by Wildlands Trust, was funded by two sources: a Massachusetts
Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant and a private foundation. Both streams required the public’s blessing. Avon voters
enthusiastically approved the allocation of MVP funds to the project last fall. When the private foundation challenged Wildlands to
demonstrate community support for the park this winter, we launched an online fundraising campaign with the goal of 200 donations
over four weeks. We received 220 donations totaling over $7,000—in just 10 days.

“The community continues to show up for D.W. Field Park,” said Wildlands Director of Special Projects Rachel Bruce. “This most recent
outpouring of generosity shows our current and future funders what we already know—that this park is cherished by those who use it,
and that we need to do everything we can to keep improving this vital resource.”
Featuring miles of woodland paths, a public golf course, and six water bodies sprawled across 700 urban acres, D.W. Field Park offers
a rare space to relax, exercise, and build community for hundreds of thousands in Brockton and Avon, home to our region’s largest
Environmental Justice population. This work comes as part of the Wildlands-led D.W. Field Park Initiative, a long-term community
partnership to restore this natural and cultural treasure for local people and wildlife.
“The D.W. Field Park Initiative is an ambitious project that
brings together engineers, planners, community organizers,
green infrastructure experts, transportation planners,
businesses, and educators to ensure that the people of
Brockton and Avon can access the same benefits of nature
as rural and suburban communities,” said Wildlands
President Karen Grey. “It was very exciting to start this work
with a project to add land to the park.”

This spring, Wildlands is convening community partners to
plan for the future of this new parcel west of Waldo Lake.

Visit dwfpi.org for updates as our
D.W. Field Park Initiative continues.

State and local officials gathered at D.W. Field Park last August to celebrate MVP grant funding to expand the park. 5