462 Halsey Street Community Garden
A collaborative effort between residents and businesses of Bedford-Stuyvesant to transform a vacant lot for almost 20 years, into a thriving community garden.
About the project
The vacant lot at 462 Halsey has been vacant for over 20 years. It has been an eyesore to veteran and new community members alike. Bed Stuy residents are anxious to transform this awful space into something beautiful and productive. In our contract with Green Thumb and HPD, we are required to have the garden up and running 6 months after the contract is signed, therefore it is very urgent to raise money to have the supplies needed to reach that goal.
The 462 Halsey Community Garden Initiative is here:
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to forge new community bonds and relationships through mutual hard work
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to offer neighborhood youths a place to learn and grow through hands-on learning and involvement.
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to serve those who have helped shape the heart of this community —families who desperately want and need healthy food options
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for the community to be self-sustaining through agriculture
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to offer a percentage of our harvest for sale to local businesses, to give them the opportunity to financially support this community effort as well as provide them with the freshest ingredients for their customers, by their customers.
The Steps
We have applied and are now approved for full use and access to the space . Our goal is to have a functioning garden by early Spring of 2012. In order to achieve success, we must first raise money to buy supplies. Our project relies heavily on the community effort through volunteer work in gardening, building and helping to bring awareness.
Why we‘re doing it
we are addressing the following problems:
- Lack of healthy food options including locally grown, organic foods
- Heavy reliance on Supermarkets which negatively impact the atmosphere through transportation of food and unsafe farm practices