Garden Classrooms

Directly across the street from HPEM a lot stands vacant and steadily dilapidating. Though now a neighborhood eyesore this lot has endless untapped potential as an economic and nutritional resource and a neighborhood development tool. The students of HPEM their families and greater community will work together to transform a rundown lot into a financially and nutritionally contributive vegetable garden an outdoor classroom and a neighborhood mural.

  Our garden is located at a safety net health clinic has 65,000 patient visits a year.  The clinic serves Pediatric, Ob/Gyn and Adult Medicine patients.  The garden provides fresh produce to the clinics at no charge as well as providing learning opportunities for all the neighborhood.  There are regular workdays for all volunteers with special times for instruction on gardening.  Also there are cooking classes for all ages.

In a world where our children are bombarded with processed foods and an overall lack of exposure to nature it is crucial to educate our students in regard to nutrition and our natural world. It is our belief that by teaching our students the various aspects of growing harvesting and preparing nutritious foods from a very young age we can not only educate them in regard to the importance of nutrition but also foster an appreciation of the environmental well-being of our community.

Our garden goal for Head Start is to give the satisfying experiences of planting cultivating and harvesting fruits and vegetables and to create a lifelong appreciation for healthy living. The grant will help our Head Start address pervasive health concerns such as poor nutrition and inactivity which leads to childhood obesity. By supporting our community gardens you can help our children and parents establish links between plants gardening food and health.