What is happening?

The Sister Mary Veronica Park has been put up for sale by the Archdiocese of Boston, and we are looking for help to save the park for the community!

Why is this important?

The Sister Mary Veronica Park is located in South Boston on West 8th St, between Grimes St and F St. It has been a beloved neighborhood park for more than 50 years! The park provides a green public space for the community to gather and relax and enjoy the shade of old growth trees. One of the precious few parks in the area, the five mature trees that provide shade and greenery are a blessing for a neighborhood that ranks among the lowest in canopy cover in Greater Boston.

The park was first dedicated on November 23, 1968 as the Sister Mary Veronica Park. It is named after Sister Mary Veronica, a South Boston girl who grew up adjacent to the park and became a nun in the Sisters of Notre Dame Order in 1939 until her death in 1960. The park was created thanks to months of community effort, transforming a vacant lot into a small "pocket park." 

Care of the park has always been a community effort; residents take the trash barrels to the street on trash day, rake up the fallen leaves in fall, and shovel the sidewalks in winter. Children play in the park, riding bikes and hitting baseballs, playing tag and other games while people of all ages hang out on the benches, enjoying the shady and peaceful space. 

Losing the park will mean the loss of a place where all are welcome to gather, and a loss of a place where community is welcome to grow.

What can I do?

• Sign this petition, and please let us know what the park means to you. Your comments on the park are a lovely reminder of why we must fight to save this park!
• Reach out to your local representatives to express your concern about the loss of the park, and ask them to help to preserve the park for the future!
• If you are interested in contributing to help defray administrative costs, we have a GoFundMe set up at https://www.gofundme.com/f/saveSMVPark. All money contributed will go towards the costs of saving the park such as printing flyers and signs, and any left over funds will go towards the beautification and preservation of the park. The change.org donation prompts go towards change.org and provide us credit to help promote the petition; this helps us directly!
• If you'd like to help out with organizing and administrative effort, please let us know at SaveSMVPark@gmail.com!