Growing Community from the Ground Up

Some of the strongest community projects begin with something very simple.

In this case, it was a garden.

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I worked alongside my friend Georgia Eldeib as Roots to Grow developed in Park Forest around a straightforward idea: community gardens should not only survive from season to season; they should become places where another generation can learn how to grow food, understand the natural environment, and experience what it means to build something together.

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Roots to Grow Gardens was a volunteer-run registered nonprofit created to promote and sustain community and school gardens in Park Forest. Georgia's work at the Neola Street Community Garden has also been recognized for combining food production, community participation, native plants, and environmental education.