El Carisa Park Teen Our SPOT and Well-Being Project

El Carisa Community Regional Park is a 79.97-acre park located at 13100 Hubbard Avenue, in the Sylmar district of Los Angeles. According to the 2016 Los Angeles Countywide Comprehensive Park and Recreation Needs Assessment, the Park is located within an area of moderate park need and features tennis, basketball and pickleball courts, a baseball and football field, a multipurpose building with a gymnasium, a swimming pool, playground, and many other amenities. In 2024, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (DMH) approached LA County Parks to collaborate on an ambitious two-year, $15 million Countywide program to create public spaces that promote social interactions and inspire community well-being in County parks. LA County Parks and DMH selected 14 parks based on several factors including existing year-round Our SPOT Teen Centers, park need based on the Countywide Park Needs Assessment, Office of Violence Prevention high violence scores, DMH equity data, and Los Angeles County Equity Explorer Index data. LA County Parks and DMH partnered on a robust, multi-phase, year-long community engagement process at each selected park to inform the development of design elements to promote well-being. LA County Parks and their design team conducted onsite interviews with Our SPOT teens as well as popup engagements with seniors and park visitors to define each park's project scope while creating a shared, program wide design vision. Subsequently, LA County Parks presented the resulting Our SPOT and wellbeing space designs for each park to DMH, Our SPOT teeris, and local community members, leading to further design enhancements. The final designs emphasize accessibility, landscaping, seating, safety, shade and effective use of color. The park's scope of work will include renovation of an existing outdoor open space as a new wellbeing space, including accessibility upgrades; trees and landscaping with irrigation; lighting and shade; seating elements including benches designated in an "Open to Chat" style to encourage conversation; informational signage; and, related improvements. The project will also include the renovation of an existing unprogrammed area into an outdoor Our SPOT space that includes paving, landscaping, shade, lighting, security fencing, seating, and related improvements. While the thematic design elements and enhancements are similar program wide, each Well-being and Our SPOT space varies in design, shape,and size to reflect community input. The difference in project budgets at each park reflect these variances, including diverse site conditions and utility infrastructure needs.