Groundbreaking held for Lots of Hope

PROVIDENCE – Providence public officials and representatives of the Rhode Island Foundation and Family Service of Rhode Island on Aug. 19 celebrated a groundbreaking for a Lots of Hope urban greenhouse in Providence.
To be located at 433 Prairie Ave., the greenhouse is funded by $110,000 in matching grants announced in May from the Foundation and Partners for Places, formerly known as the Local Sustainability Matching Fund.
The urban greenhouse is expected to extend the growing season for local urban farmers. It also will help foster micro-businesses, promote composting, and serve Providence students, said Mayor Angel Taveras and Ward 10 Councilman Luis Aponte.
“The new greenhouse will be a place where neighbors of all ages can come to learn and work together to build a more sustainable city,” said Taveras. “Through the Lots of Hope program, we are turning vacant spaces to productive use and forging the way for urban sustainability in the twenty-first century.”
The greenhouse is the latest phase of Lots of Hope, an initiative was launched last year in partnership with the Foundation to turn vacant, city-owned property into productive urban farms and bring fresh produce to neighborhoods. The goal of the program is to expand the number of green, open spaces in the city, improving air quality, public health and local property values.
“The greenhouse project is a true community effort,” said Aponte. “Promoting urban gardening, providing access to local, affordable food, and linking green space to two elementary schools, the walking school bus, and the library are just a few of the transformative goals of the urban greenhouse initiative.”
The pilot greenhouse project is a partnership between the city’s Office of Sustainability and Healthy Communities Office, its school department’s “Rekindling the Dream Foundation” and the Rhode Island Foundation.
The greenhouse will make low-cost leases to farmers and link locally grown food with school food service purchasing. A school garden-based curriculum also will be developed, including a composting program where students learn about local food systems and reducing solid waste.
“We invest in a statewide sustainable food system and support efforts such as the Rhode Island Food Policy Council,” said Jenny Pereira, the Foundation’s programs officer for the environment sector. “Through Lots of Hope, we will continue to advance a healthy and resilient local food system in the capital city, which can serve as a model for the state and beyond.”
Construction of the greenhouse is expected to begin this fall. Growing is scheduled to start in spring of 2015.
The other Lots of Hope projects include Meader Street Farm on the City’s West Side and Manton Bend Community Farm, completed last year in partnership with Southside Community Land Trust and the African Alliance of Rhode Island. A fourth project, improvements to an urban farm in the Olneyville neighborhood, is in development in collaboration with SCLT.

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