I am writing this letter to voice my strong support regarding the decision by Mayor Fulop, the City Council and the Dept. of Health and Human Services to reopen our parks with restrictions. As a teacher, not a day goes by since  that second week of March where everything changed that I don’t worry about many of my students and all the students of our city who are stuck at home, some with parents who have lost everything adding to their constant anxiety and worry.  Many are in this situation with no escape and with the news media constantly on in the background replaying worse case scenarios for them to hear. I can’t shake the sights and sounds of March 13th, as we told our students that school would be canceled indefinitely.  Most did not say anything, but the look of worry and uncertainty in their faces was undeniable.   As a parent I see the toll it has on my own daughter as whenever I leave the house she jumps to ask where I am going with a worried tone.  All many of these kids want,  are to see their friends and relatives again and to be back in their safe space, their second home; their school.  Since those options are not possible right now, they need signs of hope and they need them soon or their mental health will continue to deteriorate.  You will see depression, anxiety and much worse.  Opening the parks which is considered by many health experts to be extremely low risk adds a a glimmer of hope for our children and many others.  It allows people  to see that the life that was once lived will eventually slowly come back to normal.   Taking a walk in the park with their family and getting fresh air and sunlight while  seeing and talking to others, possibly friends and relatives (while safely socially distancing) will speak volumes and give them some type of security and comfort that is desperately needed right now.