A group of older adults will no longer have to dodge cars at Hudson Park after the city paved a walking path that was championed by a local walking group.

The group, a walking club hosted by the Filipino Migrant Center, led a campaign to get the walking path made last year due to safety concerns. Alex Montances, a community organizer with FMC, said the project had been delayed, but the group kept putting pressure on city leaders by sending reminder postcards and making phone calls to their city council member and city departments.

“When you fight for something, you can win,” Montances said.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCZD7wDgDix/

Walking club member Ali Famisaran, 68, said some people have tripped in the past due to a dangerous mix of foot traffic and cars pulling into one the park’s parking lots.

“For years it’s just been people walking around the park and exercising and putting their lives at risk,” Famisaran said.

Luz Lagarde, 73, said she’s glad to have been a part of the process, and gave thanks to her council representative, Roberto Uranga of the 7th District, to give her and the club a path to exercise on in the mornings.

“It helps a lot,” said Lagarde, a West Long Beach resident for over 20 years.

From the very beginning, however, District 7 Chief of Staff Celina Luna said that they were always on board with getting the walking path paved, but they needed a few months to find the funding for it.

“They set up at our office for the meeting, and before they even opened their mouths, we said we were going to do it,” Luna said.

Before the pandemic caused closures and shutdowns, the walking club had about 15-20 people going out for walks to get exercise every day, he said.

In mid-March, they stopped the walking club, due to health concerns. The members range in age from their 40s to their 80s, which at the time, was the most population most vulnerable to COVID-19. Lagarde and Montances said a relative of a walking club member tested positive for the coronavirus.

Now, Montances said members usually only go with relatives, and members have begun hosting club check-ins on Saturdays via Zoom.

“They just missed everybody,” he said.

Famisaran lives in Alamitos Heights and travels to the Westside for the walking club, because to him, as an older adult, exercising and socializing are necessary to stay healthy.

“Those are some key factors for long life,” he said.

For the next campaign, Montances said that the walking club is pushing for speed bumps on Santa Fe Avenue and Hill Street to prevent street racing—one of which killed a pedestrian in a crash in May—or a crosswalk on Willow Street and Santa Fe Avenue because older adults have a harder time accessing the Tambuli Supermarket—a popular Filipino market—if they live on the west side of Santa Fe Avenue.

Montances also said they want to become something more, such as an organization focusing on multigenerational health-related projects with young FMC interns and older adults.

“There’s a lot of excitement… ” Montances said.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from Celina Luna, chief of staff for District 7.