A vertical garden at the Moses Community Center was created with the Boys II Men program during the summer of 2017. The garden provided aesthetic, ecological, and social benefit. The vertical garden was designed and planted to grow ingredients for recipes. Youth used some of the spices during weekly cooking workshops in which the young people cooked different meals from different parts of the world. This project beautified the entrance to the Moses, and demonstrated that food can be grown in small spaces using recycled shipping pallets. The words “Moses Youth Center” and “Fun Future Family Foundation” was added to the fence to make a stronger connection to the identity and mission of the Moses Youth Center.

Youth engaged in project: 20 high school students, ages 14-18 years old

Skills learned through this project:

• “Soft skills”: patience, communication, team work, collaboration, responsibility, accountability, leadership and decision making
• The art and science of cooking with fresh products from the garden
• Community service and environmental care

Testimonials reported from Tyrell Dortch, youth program manager:

• Parents and youth from other programs have all said how good the front looks now.
• A lot of people who live in the community have also been impressed about the garden saying how much they appreciate seeing youth playing a part in the project.
• Youth have said the addition of the letters and the garden makes the youth center feel way more welcoming. They also stated that being able to grow vegetables and spices was a great experience and they look forward to seeing the progress throughout the school year.

Future plans: use more vegetables and spices for community dinners that we will be having during the school year.

Before and after: