Peace, Love and Friendship Garden

The vision for this site derived from one of our new 2018-2019 ambassadors Kent Bey. Kent is the head of the organization Project Love Coalition whose mission is to empower veterans to in neighborhoods through STEAM-based projects and community building. Coming from this background, coupled with the local grocery store closing Kent desired a means to make the community and residents closer to self-sustainability. This lead to the decision to create a holistic food garden that families, residents and veterans alike could share and participate in cultivating a rich integrated space.

In August, eager to break ground on the site our ambassador hit the ground running! Implementing recruiting tactics taught in our ReClaim Ambassador Series, Kent reached out to an organization involved in community efforts to combine with our resources to create a 30 person volunteer day. With both teams ramped up to make progress and change, the dedicated staff of Grounded Strategies and Project Love Coalition have been working on the garden every Saturday and Sunday since.

Throughout September our staff continued to plan work days and finally in October, we ended this project with a 160-volunteer workday. Volunteers from the University of Pittsburgh’s Make-a-Difference Day, Asian Student Alliance, and Duquesne’s Environmental Justice cohort, all helped Grounded officially complete the Peace, Love and Friendship Garden in the Hill District. This garden features 72 garden beds and is ready to be planted with an assortment of vegetables and leafy greens in the spring. This area is to also act as a place where neighbors can congregate, celebrate and learn how to grow and prepare healthy food.