About Our Community

The Springbrook community of Lakewood has a population of approximately 5,000 people. This walkable, livable, diverse community is made up of 44% Hispanic, 23% Caucasian, 17% African American, & a mixture of other races.  In addition to many single family homes, there are 56 high density apartments.  The median household income is $22,900 per year, which is $19,500 lower than that of the City of Lakewood. The elementary school, Tyee Park has a free and reduced lunch rate of 96%.  Some Highlights of Springbrook include:

·         newly renovated and well designed park, soccer field, covered area, & off leash dog park
·         weekly mobile food bank,
·         community garden,
·         multiple neighborhood associations, 
·         a high impact youth summer program
·         summer lunch program

Due to geographic restraints with I-5 on one side and the Joint Base Lewis-McChord on the other, the Springbrook community is isolated from the rest of the city and services.  Additionally, there are few services that exist within Springbrook and access to the urban center of Lakewood is not easily accessible for most families. In addition, residents have limited access to youth activities, social service programs, food options, or community activities.  Despite these challenges, the people of Springbrook recently reported that the #1 strength of the community is the people who live here care. In recent years, the Springbrook community has seen a drastic decrease in violent crime arrests.    

 About Substance Abuse Prevention Goals in our Community

When Lakewood’s CHOICE was established we set the following goals in the Springbrook Community:

·               Develop and promote opportunities that build stronger community connection and engagement.
·                Increase the amount of opportunities that promote healthy family functioning.
·                Decrease substance abuse and anti-social behaviors among local youth.
·               Increase the availability of positive opportunities for children and youth at school and in the community.
·               Increase the perception of harm of substance abuse. 

 Here is how Lakewood's CHOICE along with the community and our partners are working to reach these goals: We invite kids and families to participate in evidenced based programs such as Project SUCCESS, Second Step, Incredible Years Parenting Class, & Curriculum Based Support Groups.  All of which will be measured by pre and post surveys. CHOICE will work on community level change through positive community norming and decreasing access to alcohol and other substances.   We will measure community level changes through an annual community survey and on-going community assessments.