LOS ANGELES – On the busy street of Pico Boulevard in the Arlington Heights neighborhood, a black and gold accented building, The Walk Good Yard, stands to welcome the Los Angeles community. Two stories tall it’s filled to the brim booming Jamaican culture and a peaceful ambiance that cuts through the outside noise. “In our Jamaican household, you hear it on a daily basis, ‘walk good, make sure you walk good’,” says Ivy Coco Maurice, co-founder and current vice-president of WalkGood LA. Feeling comfortable in her second home, Maurice steps out of black heeled ankle boots onto the soft white carpeted meditation room, grounding herself to share how WalkGood continues alongside any journey the LA community faces.
WalkGood LA is a non-profit founded by siblings Etienne and Ivy Maurice in June 2020 to create a communal safe space amid a global pandemic and racial uprisings sparked by police brutality. Maurice comments on the birth of WalkGood recalling how the current President, Etienne, was especially impacted by the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man murdered by three white men, to act.
Maurice followed suit sticking to her mantra, “I serve looks, and the community,” combining her zeal for wellness with compassion for the community. The Maurice siblings, along with a few other family members worked with the flavored water brand, Propel, and actor, Michael B Jordan, to create The Walk Good Yard, a wellness studio as a space for communities to breathe, laugh, feel safe and educate themselves wherever they are in life.
When the fires started in Los Angeles the WalkGood executive team was reminded why they started the non-profit, to help heal the community. Maurice reflects on their work keeping people active in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they could transform The WalkGood Yard for those affected by the fires. Sitting in the very room where she listened to stories of hundreds displaced by the fires Maurice recounts, “I felt like it was almost COVID all over again, and it reminded me that we are the City of Angels, I had to give myself that affirmation again and say hey we are going to show up for one another.”
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Palisades and Eaton fires ravaged LA County burning 23,448 and 14,021 acres causing thousands of residents to evacuate, destroying 16,251 structures and 29 fatalities. When the fires started WalkGood not only promoted safety and advocacy through their social media but also opened their doors at WalkGood Yard transforming into a donation center to help with the immediate needs of those displaced.
Maurice along with Etienne, cousin Marley Ralph, and friends Jaide and Kavi Peshawaria strategize every day on how WalkGood can best serve the community seeking to do something more during a time when people have lost everything. They especially emphasize how the fires disproportionally affected neighborhoods like Altadena, a historically Black middle-class community known for elevating Black excellence during redlining and segregation.
Research from the University of California Los Angeles notes the Eaton fire’s perimeter reached 61% of Black households in Altadena and 48% of Black households damaged or destroyed. By directly connecting with people displaced by the fires, Maurice recognized the support people needed. “You know, they needed a lot,” Maurice empathizes. “It wasn’t just clothes. It was like, I need cash, I need therapy. And then not just for me, but maybe the five other people I live with.”
Funding is essential right now for the Black community affected by the fires. WalkGood recognizes the recent strain on the Black community wholeheartedly. Not wanting to leave Black history behind and continue to uplift future generations they prepared to meet people where they’re at in their journey to rebuild.
“We showed up for people in the pandemic in a different way, where it was like we were giving people physical activations. You’re running and you’re doing yoga in the park, like you can do that for yourself. But now it takes a village.” Maurice explains as WalkGood joins other organizations to help fund Black families displaced by the fires.
With an initial partnership with Community Aid Dena, GoFundMe and AfroPunk WalkGood raised $20 million for 867 families by Jan. 27. This was only the start of the campaign to fund Altadena’s reconstruction. Maurice credits Aid Dena for connecting with organizations like the NAACP and BET Media Group allowing their platform to receive more exposure for funding and the additional resources for LA WalkGood brings such as Angelenos stories, sustainable solutions and healthy living to the forefront providing information on job opportunities and air cleanliness.
Mental and physical wellness has always been a part of Maurice’s lifestyle. Bringing her journey full circle, Maurice laughs reminiscing on the early Saturday morning car rides she spent with her father, Eric Maurice, driving through LA to Altadena and Pasadena to train for track. She credits her parents for instilling the importance of practicing physical, mental, and spiritual wellness. Additionally emphasizing the attention her mother, Sheryl Lee Ralph, paid to her mental health by sending her to therapy at a young age.
Advocating practicing compassion for others and themselves Maurice hopes people journey safely as they leave WalkGood but always know they can come home. Their 10-year goal for the creative wellness studio is to continue offering classes encouraging those to contribute philanthropically, even if it’s a dollar.
Maurice strongly believes wellness is for everyone, “Healing doesn’t just have to be for a certain type of person. It’s not for the person that just signed up for the yoga membership and goes to that one gym.” Underlining the importance of consistency she adds, “Healing isn’t a day’s destination. Healing is a way of life.”
