My Nonprofit Reviews

I cannot say enough good things about Amigos de los Rios!

Since 2005, they have worked to transform trash-filled, blighted, sometimes toxic lots into green, sustainable, environmentally sound recreational areas in dozens of cities throughout the Los Angeles basin. They show kids (and adults) by example why we should care about our environment, how to empower ourselves to surmount tough environmental challenges and get the job done. I became aware of Amigos in 2015, and have worked on various projects with them.

Claire & her team are big-time motivators: they generate impressive community involvement and create wonderfully thought-out projects. I never fail to be impressed by the number of volunteers – including lots of students -- that show up every weekend to build, restore, maintain and do citizen science programs at Amigos’ many projects along the Emerald Necklace: parks big and small, schoolyards, hiking trails and bike paths.

I like that they involve local community members and personalize projects as part of the planning process. They often include art work and structures with meaningful connections to local history, like the Tongva Indian stories included at Rio Vista Park. The Gibson Mariposa Butterfly Park came to be after fifth-graders wrote to their city officials asking for a park. Amigos gave them a Monarch Butterfly habitat, native plants, and playgrounds for little kids through teens in a design that collects and distributes stormwater with permeable surfaces, swales and berms (a hallmark of Amigos projects). There is the huge 4-year tree-restoration project at Whittier Narrows, where pest-resistant trees are replacing those killed or damaged by invasive boring beetles. And there is the Jeff Seymour Family Center, where a vast, broiling heat-island of pavement has been broken up into planting areas amid a winding bicycle course shaded by trees and native plants. There are many, many more examples, each unique and meaningful.

Amigos is a dynamic organization that rolls with the challenges and has an enormous positive impact on the neighborhoods and people it touches. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about inspiring, involving, encouraging and educating communities in sustainable environmental practices while providing important new recreational and social opportunities.