As climate change brings more wildfires, floods and heat emergencies, public parks have proven to be essential community infrastructure, yet they are still funded as optional amenities. That has to change. When the Eaton Fire ravaged Altadena, California, in January 2025, residents were scrambling for shelter and emergency services, while children had no schools or safe places. Nineteen people died and more than 9,000 homes and businesses were destroyed. The County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation (LA County Parks) became that place. Within days of the fires, the department opened five Care Camp sites that took in more than 2,600 children over the next three weeks. County departments and partners created programming, conducted field trips and served 36,000 meals, while mental health professionals offered support. Similarly, in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic, parks became some of the only places people could go outside of their homes. The city’s parks and nonprofit parks workers became their own kind of “essential” workers, comforting people, meeting ne