2023-2024 Year in Review

More than just an oasis for fun, the Aquatic Park is also a year-round resource for water safety, swim lessons and lifeguard training. 

Teaching these essential life skills is an important resource we offer to the community, and demand for these services remains high. To help meet community needs, we added an additional 350 swim lesson opportunities, increasing our class capacity by 13%. We’re pleased to report that we were able to teach a total of 3,134 students of varying ages how to swim.

Serving all residents also means providing a safe space for those who need a calm and quiet environment to enjoy the water or practice swimming. This past year we introduced nine Sensory Friendly Swim sessions into our program offerings, creating a welcoming aquatic environment for swimmers seeking reduced noise, limited lighting and fewer swimmers in a flat-water setting. 

This year saw a 30% increase in overall participation, with 14,819 community members signing up for art and dance programs, fitness, classes, sports leagues and more.

We've seen a surge in sports program participants. Our Youth Sideout Volleyball program served up some excitement with its highest enrollment numbers ever—319 participants, representing a 23% increase.

The Hoopers Basketball League expanded to include fall, winter and spring offerings so that young athletes can hit the court year round. And kids weren’t the only ones to get in on the action, as demonstrated by the 94 teams that signed up for the Adult Softball League across all three seasons, representing a 22% increase from the previous year.

Our dedication to providing equitable access to programs led to the launch of the first Adaptive and Inclusive Summer Social, which welcomed 43 participants ages 15 and up for a fun-filled day of splatter painting and socializing. Additionally, the Shooting Stars League, a basketball program designed for players with additional needs, broke records with 52 participants, achieving its highest enrollment ever.
 

More than 7,600 residents participated in 22 different event festivities this past year.

During the summer months, attendance for both the Concert in the Park and Movies in the Park event series increased by more than 50%. We also offered our first concert just for kids and their families, which drew more than 450 delighted and dancing attendees.

We were honored to host the second annual Fiesta en el Parque event, which continued to grow in popularity by accomplishing a whopping 48% increase in attendance over the previous year. This vibrant showcase of diverse Latino cultures and rich community traditions featured skilled artisans and makers, wonderful music and dance performances, and a mouth-watering array of food vendors.

A community hub that supports learning, recreation, and social connection.

Our commitment to meeting the high demand for our Meals on Wheels program remained stronger than ever, as not even snow and ice storms could prevent us from delivering 80,127 nutritious meals to 455 homebound senior neighbors. We thank the many community partners and volunteers who help keep these programs and services running. 

In the past year, the Milwaukie Community Center received some notable upgrades to enhance the building, including a fresh coat of paint in the lobby, additional security cameras, and a dual-unit electric oven secured with grant money from the State of Oregon. In addition, the Center’s library underwent a major makeover to energize the room and accommodate the evolving needs of our ongoing programs and services. Library improvements included new paint, furniture and lighting fixtures.

Our dedicated staff worked diligently throughout the year to protect and enhance the district's beautiful parks, trails, and natural areas.

At Alma Myra Park, we paved the trail that winds through the towering Douglas fir trees, ensuring that the path remains accessible to all residents. The older wooden play structure was also replaced with new equipment and accessible elements, including a disc swing, rollers slide and interactive play panel.

Our staff installed a concrete walking path extension at Altamont Park to complete the full loop around the park. This upgrade not only enhances the walking experience for park-goers seeking the park’s breathtaking views, but it also improved the park’s safety as the new segment replaced a previous wood chip path that was prone to flooding.

To spark imagination and a love of the natural world for our younger residents, NCPRD sponsored two Science in the Park events at Mill Park and Boardman Wetlands Nature Park. Activities included science-based education and games, including a park-wide scavenger hunt. The event was held in partnership with local watershed councils, Clackamas County Children’s Commission and Mad Science.

1,248 volunteers contributed an impressive 46,132 hours to serving the community.

Throughout the year, generous community volunteers joined NCPRD staff to help us enrich community vitality, promote healthy living and care for our shared green spaces. We are so grateful to our volunteers and their selfless commitment to their community, including their work delivering meals to their homebound senior neighbors, maintaining and enriching our sensitive habitats, and contributing 6,611 hours to keep our sports programs thriving and accessible to the entire community.