Our city is filled with resources and families, but without a hub to bring folks together and a format to disseminate vetted information, raising young children can be a tremendously isolating and daunting task. Parenting is the great equalizer — regardless of resources/socio-economic level, it is hard work & we all benefit from high quality support.

In 2007, Recess set out to become the hub that any parent could show up, feel welcome, and let their child safely explore. In essence, we designed a space and a structure for people to come together around the shared goal of raising healthy families. And still today, we're working to connect parents, caregivers, families and organizations that are all eager to learn from each other, thereby improving our collective community's ability to flourish. 

Over the past 16 years, Recess has become a pillar of the parenting community. By supporting both young children and their grownups, we have enriched the lives of thousands of San Francisco families in our own brick and mortar locations. We’ve also had the opportunity to design & build out spaces in public facilities such as Raley’s supermarkets, small businesses such as Spirited Play Lab, Andytown, and private homes.

During the pandemic, when it became unsafe to gather indoors, our much loved physical space was unable to operate and ultimately had to close.  But because safe play, support, and connection were actually needed more than ever, we accelerated our strategic plan and morphed Recess’ offerings into a mobile format. This initiative, Recess on Wheels has the potential to expand the communities Recess is able ​to serve ​by providing playgroups and special events in outdoor spaces throughout the city. With the launch of Recess on Wheels, we are no longer restricted by geography. This work is crucial during a time when families are isolated, have fewer opportunities for connection, and the mental health of new parents is at risk.

As we move beyond the pandemic (hopefully!), our goal is to continue to deliver outdoor, in-person, programming, continue providing parent support workshops online, and move forward with our initiative to create neighborhood-specific spaces for play and support with community partners. The potential to transform the experience of a family through the dissemination of vetted information and the creation of a support system is tremendous.