Growing Serenity: Help a Brooklyn community garden blossom

The Brooklyn Queens Land Trust (https://bqlt.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit which owns and stewards over 30 community gardens in diverse neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens, NYC. Our gardens are privately owned public places that are saved in perpetuity as open green space: they can never be sold or developed.

In late 2017, BQLT was fortunate to acquire its 35th garden—Serenity Garden in Flatlands, Brooklyn—through the generous donation of a community member. Serenity had fallen into disrepair before this acquisition, but in the past 18 months, a dedicated group of neighbors has come together to revitalize it by cleaning out trash, pulling up weeds, and planting new plots.

While we've come a long way, Serenity still needs some shoring up to make it safer and more accessible for senior citizens, small children, and differently abled community members. Specifically, Serenity needs: a new walkway, fence repair, tree maintenance, and a gazebo for shade and shelter.

BQLT has received a private grant to cover much of this infrastructure, but we still need to raise the last bit. So this spring, we are working to leverage ioby's Power Up Neighborhood Match to energize our volunteer board members, network of Flatlands gardeners, and green space supporters city-wide to give Serenity the love it needs to once again become a gorgeous green hub for outdoor recreation, urban agriculture, relaxation, and fellowship—for neighbors of ALL ages and abilities.

You can learn more about Serenity Garden...

- On their website: https://serenitycommunitygarden.weebly.com/

- On BQLT's website: https://bqlt.org/garden/serenity

Between spring 2019 and spring 2020, we will coordinate and pay for the following upgrades to be made in Serenity Garden. The order of tasks will depend on contractor/vendor and seasonal availability.
 

- New walkway: materials purchased and installed 

- Fence repair: materials purchased and contractor engaged

- Tree maintenance: contractor engaged

- Gazebo: purchased and installed

Community gardens are green oases in the urban jungle of NYC. Many of these neighborhood-founded, neighborhood-managed spaces are decades old and serve as cultural anchors in their communities as well as hubs for outdoor recreation, urban agriculture, relaxation, and neighborly fellowship for people of all ages and backgrounds.

Because BQLT gardens are saved in perpetuity as open, green spaces, we do not have to worry about them being sold or developed. What we DO have to worry about is maintaining them to ensure that generations of city residents and visitors of all abilities can continue to enjoy them safely as the neighborhood treasures they were created to be.