CHANGE-MAKING
A Garden for a Homeless Shelter
Natural Ivy Foundation, 1564 S. Hobart Blvd. Los Angeles, is a homeless shelter that serves between 8 and 20 clients (including children) at any given time. They also allow homeless people in the community to shower and receive emergency clothing and food at their site.
I'm the project leader for a group of volunteers from PandoPopulus that is helping them turn their large back yard area (previously covered with gravel and cracked cement) into a community garden with raised beds. Soon their clients and local “putterers” will be able to raise vegetables and herbs in a beautiful environment for their core shelter, empowerment, and neighborhood outreach programs. The garden will be watered with gray water from their washer, where they average 3-to-4 loads of laundry every day. Here are photos from our first work day. As you can see from the photo above, we are almost finished!