[gtranslate]
Sky Lakes has helped fund and build parks, bike lanes, public art, and playgrounds that give people safe, inviting places to move and gather. Park access in the area jumped from 40% to 64.5% of residents, and physical activity opportunities grew from 70% to 75%.
Mark Willrett has seen Klamath Falls change over his nearly 30 years’ working as a city official in Klamath Falls. He says the biggest shifts have come in just the last 10 to 15 years, and Sky Lakes has been a key partner in making them happen.
One of the most visible results is the ADA-accessible playground at Moore Park, a 18,000-square-foot all-inclusive play structure with a rubberized surface that accommodates wheelchairs and people of all abilities. Sky Lakes helped secure the grant and fundraising that made it possible.
“The play structure gets people outdoors — especially kids — and hopefully off phones and video games and doing something outside,” says Willrett, now director of Public Works at City of Klamath Falls.
The protected bike lane on Oregon Avenue is another collaboration. Sky Lakes and Healthy Klamath used health data to identify a corridor where residents were at higher risk for chronic illness, then helped fund the lane specifically to encourage people to get moving in that neighborhood.
What makes it all work, Willrett says, is the unusually strong web of relationships between the city, county, state agencies, nonprofits, and Sky Lakes. This group meets regularly and moves projects forward together.
“Sky Lakes has been a great partner with the City of Klamath Falls,” Willrett says. “They’re involved and willing to participate in the community, which is wonderful.”
“If people have access to fresh and healthy foods and they’re given some support and education on how to use them,” Clarke says, “there’s evidence that it has really amazing benefits to their health.”
How Can You Get Involved?
Help the Klamath Basin continue to rise by getting involved in community programs. Whether your passions lie in food, play, art, wellness, careers for the future, or lifelong health, you can help.
![photos of Danny Hawkes with the text "I just can't extol the virtues of [the Wellness Center] enough."](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Danny-Hawkes-1-300x147.png)
