The Kelly Street Garden grows food and community by creating a hub where Longwood/Hunts Point community members can grow and share free, fresh produce and plug into activities that improve physical, mental, social, and financial well-being.
We are able to create this hub by being responsive to community needs, fostering community leadership, and opening economic opportunities whenever possible. We listen to what community members want before we craft our programming, and we expand the resources we can offer by collaborating with partners in other areas (most often the arts and community organizing).
We grow hundreds of pounds of produce each year in our 2,500 sq. ft. community garden, which we distribute for free to our neighbors, through weekly summer Farm Stands, cooking workshops, and other local events. All of this is done mostly through the work of community volunteers, in spite of being in the poorest national congressional district and lowest-ranked county by health in New York State.