Atlanta’s parks are getting a serious glow up. Park Pride is steering $3.5 million into neighborhood green spaces across the city and unincorporated DeKalb County, backing 19 capital projects that range from redesigned playgrounds and accessible playscapes to fresh gathering spots and entrance upgrades. The nonprofit says roughly 60% of this year’s money, about $2.5 million, will land in historically disinvested neighborhoods.
On the ground, that should look like new picnic tables, spruced-up entrances and better trail connections that make parks easier and safer to reach. For the community groups doing the heavy lifting, the grants come paired with technical support meant to help move ideas off sketch pads and into construction.
As reported by SaportaReport, Park Pride published its 2026 grant list on Feb. 18 and reiterated that more than 60% of the funds, roughly $2.5 million, will flow to historically disinvested neighborhoods. The slate of projects includes a redesigned playground at Ellsworth Park, a new playscape at Thomasville Park and an amphitheater upgrade in Cabbagetown, along with access-focused work such as new entrances, trail links and wayfinding.
Backers and a bigger funding push
The awards are backed by a mix of public and private partners, including the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation and the City of Atlanta, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Park Pride frames this latest round as part of its multi-year “Parks for All” campaign, an effort to steadily grow investment in neighborhood parks. The nonprofit also announced that it had awarded more than $3 million to 23 projects in 2025, according to Park Pride.
Targeting access and community input
“Partnership is at the heart of how we deliver great parks for Atlanta,” Department of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Justin Cutler said, underscoring the city’s reliance on community groups and nonprofit partners to keep parks improving.
Park Pride’s director Andrew White told SaportaReport that the nonprofit has invested more than $10 million into historically disinvested communities since 2021. To make it clearer where help is most needed, White said Park Pride is organizing awards into three buckets, play, access and gathering, so both residents and officials can see whether a park needs better equipment, better connections or better common space to move from concept to construction.
The money does not show up alone. Grants also come with implementation support, from permitting to procurement, the unglamorous but essential work that many volunteer-led Friends groups depend on to actually get shovels in the ground.
What residents can expect
Park Pride says each winning Friends group will move into design and permitting this year with hands-on help from staff and partners. Several of the projects are explicitly aimed at fixing connectivity problems, with new entrances, wayfinding and trail segments intended to make parks more walkable and less confusing to navigate.
The announcements line up with the city’s Love Your Park volunteer month, which aims to mobilize hundreds of volunteers for low-cost, high-impact park maintenance and activation work, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In other words, while new capital projects are being designed, regular park users are being invited to roll up their sleeves and help care for what is already there.
Friends groups that want to apply in future cycles or check whether they qualify can find step-by-step guidance, deadlines and matching requirements on Park Pride. The nonprofit says it will keep tracking project progress and share updates as parks move from drawings to ribbon cuttings throughout the year.
