Working with local residents, volunteers, and youth leaders, ABC has created a paradise in El Barrio (aka East Harlem). Their community garden programs give children and families an opportunity to grow their own food and enjoy relaxing, volunteering, learning, and doing yoga in the garden.

Finding a healthy meal and a shady tree is not easy in East Harlem, a historically marginalized community. Access to nutritious food and safe green spaces is limited in this neighborhood, where the rates of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease are among the highest in New York City. East Harlem residents experience high incidents of hardship such as poverty, violence, and pollution, all of which significantly decrease quality of life.

Part of ioby and the New York State Health Foundation’s Healthy Neighborhoods Challenge, ABC crowdfunded more than $11,000 to make the garden grow in the 2017 season!