Ginter Urban Gardeners
Sustain Plants, People and Places
Ginter Urban Gardener cohorts do more than create green space in Richmond urban neighborhoods. They bring neighbors together to help restore people and communities.
Environmental Justice
When Ginter Urban Gardeners built a garden adjacent to Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in historic Jackson Ward, they planted over the foundations of a neighborhood decimated by the construction of Interstate 95. The garden has become a place for the community to reflect and remember their past as they heal together as they work towards environmental justice.
Broad Rock Community Garden, located in an area lacking access to healthy and affordable food, was created to provide a source of healthy food and to be a centerpiece of the community. With a free library, picnic table and outdoor kitchen area, the garden has naturally evolved into a gathering place where neighbors teach each other cooking, nutrition, yoga and meditation.
The community garden at the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority’s (RBHA) North Campus also provides more than a source of healthy food; it offers an outlet for families facing addiction. Therapeutic gardening can help people achieve and maintain long-term recovery. For the residents of RBHA, the new garden has become a healing space for physical, psychological and social growth.
Through these projects and more, the Ginter Urban Gardeners are cultivating equity and healing in communities that have suffered economic, environmental, generational and psychological trauma. They are teaching people the skills to build authentic relationships and transform their environments – including themselves.
At Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, our mission is to connect people through plants to improve communities. When you support the Garden, you make it possible to extend our mission into communities throughout RVA. Programs like Ginter Urban Gardner help achieve this, building stronger communities by bringing neighbors together through urban greening initiatives. Will you make a gift to continue this work? You can join our mission by donating now.