Trust for Public Land Receives Over $5.7 Million in New Philanthropic Commitments for Five Mile Creek Greenbelt

Trust for Public Land announced today the organization has received two new major philanthropic commitments to help fund the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt, a network of parks and trails across Oak Cliff and southwest Dallas that TPL is developing in partnership with Dallas Park and Recreation Department. The Boone Family Foundation dedicated $2.65 million and Lyda Hill Philanthropies committed $2.5 million. Combined with previous grants received from the Sapphire Foundation, Victoria and William Chaney, and others, this brings total new philanthropic support for the project to over $5.7 million.

“Parks have the power to improve health, benefit the environment, build equity, and bring the community together, but only about half of the nearly 200,000 residents living in the Five Mile Creek watershed have access to park or trail within a 10-minute walk of home,” said Robert Kent, Texas State Director for Trust for Public Land. “The entire greenbelt network will benefit not only the residents of southwest Dallas and Oak Cliff but make the natural beauty of the area accessible to all of Dallas’s 1.3 million residents. We’re thrilled to have the support of the Boone Family Foundation and Lyda Hill Philanthropies to help further our efforts.”

Adopted by the Dallas Park and Recreation Board in 2019, the Five Mile Creek Master Plan calls for a series of parks and over a dozen miles of trails across Oak Cliff, following Five Mile Creek and its tributaries. Developed in partnership between Dallas Park and Recreation Department and TPL, the new trails will connect this part of Dallas with the city’s 160+ miles of existing trails. The greenbelt will connect to South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park, which TPL developed and opened in November 2021, and the under-construction Judge Charles R. Rose Community Park, which is scheduled to open in 2023. Also within the watershed is the 82-acre Woody Branch Park, which TPL helped acquire for the City of Dallas in 2021. From 2019-2022, TPL raised $13.3 million to fund these parks, including previous gifts from the Boone Family Foundation totaling $2.4 million. Once open, the greenbelt will be managed and stewarded by Dallas Park and Recreation Department.

“Dallas is at its best when we work together to make our neighborhoods more vibrant. That is why I am grateful that the Boone Family Foundation and Lyda Hill Philanthropies have generously agreed to help us fund the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt,” said Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson. “This is a high-priority infrastructure project that will help us continue to capitalize on the momentum in our city. The trail can improve the environment and the health, quality of life, and mobility of residents in the historically underserved and overlooked communities like the ones where I grew up. And today, we got two significant steps closer to achieving this major win for southern Dallas.”

“The Five Mile Creek Greenbelt will be a transformational asset for southern Dallas that will advance equitable development and provide environmental and health benefits for generations to come,” said Garrett Boone, Dallas entrepreneur and Chair of the Boone Family Foundation. “We are proud to continue our support for the project with our new commitment.

“I’m so excited to support the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt, which will benefit so many children and families in southern Dallas,” said Lyda Hill, founder of Lyda Hill Philanthropies. “As a lifelong supporter and user of parks and trails, I know how important these assets are to building creative minds, healthy bodies, and thriving communities. It’s not size of the check that matters, but the joy I see watching children and adults come together in community in these spaces.”

“For 80 years, Dallas has dreamed of a greenbelt along Five Mile Creek to benefit the city’s health, connectivity, and environment,” said Tillie Borchers, chair of the TPL Texas Advisory Board. “With these new commitments, we are closer than ever to making this long-imagined dream a reality for our city.”

Of the 186,297 people living within the Five Mile Creek watershed, only 54% have access to a park or trail within a 10-minute walk of home. By expanding park and trail access to impacted neighborhoods, the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt will directly improve health, education, and the environment, and help accelerate equitable development in southern Dallas.

About Trust for Public Land

Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. As a leader in equitable access to the outdoors, TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 3 million acres of public land, created more than 5,000 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, raised $84 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected more than 9 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.