海角大神

Some five years ago, Nefertari Muhammad was looking to make a change to her diet and the sources of her food.

鈥淚 have learned more about the food that we are eating, which is not healthy for us,鈥� says Ms. Muhammad, who is concerned about genetically modified food products. 鈥淚t is important for us to grow our own fruit and vegetables.鈥�

She wound up volunteering for a community garden, and today she manages Queens Garden in Philadelphia. She鈥檚 seen that garden grow from just a set of beds to a space complete with irrigation, fencing, and a shed for the necessary tools. It鈥檚 all made possible through the Philadelphia organization that operates the garden: the .

Founded in 1989 and established as a nonprofit in 1997, UTC focuses its efforts in West Philadelphia鈥檚 Haddington neighborhood, where it works with members of the community to develop greening and gardening projects on vacant or abandoned parcels. It uses these projects to form bonds among members of the community, cultivate community leadership, and establish a local food system. And Muhammad is one of many who have reaped benefits, including access to fresh produce as well as neighborhood revitalization.

Noelle Warford has been UTC鈥檚 executive director since 2016. She had already spent a decade in Philadelphia鈥檚 nonprofit sector, working on everything from transitional housing to workforce development to after-school programs. But UTC has opened her eyes to another component of community wellness that she hadn鈥檛 recognized before.

鈥淚 have found just this thing that was missing,鈥� she says. 鈥淕reen space is so important.鈥�

Ms. Warford and her team have seen the challenges in Haddington: violence, dumping, other crimes, and the food insecurity associated with living in a food desert. She notes that they work in a predominantly African-American community that faces a range of health issues.

With those challenges in mind, the nonprofit has transformed a number of sites into community gardens, pocket parks, and similar spaces. One in particular, referred to as Memorial Garden, is where several young men were killed. 鈥淓ven in a space where something as tragic as that has happened, it is kind of beautiful to see life growing there,鈥� Warford says.

Indeed, UTC began with a focus on improving physical spaces, with the emphasis on urban farming and community development coming later.

鈥淎 lot of the work that had been done in the first couple of decades was really around developing these abandoned and vacant lots into spaces that could really be used by the community,鈥� says Warford, who joined UTC in the spring of 2015 as programs director.聽

She notes that founder Skip Wiener, who served as executive director until she took the reins three years ago, was a landscape architect with a gift for envisioning better uses for neglected spaces. So projects like one early endeavor 鈥� tearing down a drug house and turning it into a pocket park 鈥� were common for the organization.聽

One block鈥檚 transformation

In 2009, UTC and others launched Neighborhood Foods Farm, converting the interior of a poorly utilized block into a thriving food source. Produce that is harvested from the farm and other gardens is distributed to members of the community. The distribution takes place at neighborhood farm stands, which are manned by members of the community.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty different approach 鈥� not only having farm stands where there is very limited food access, but having them operated and run by people who live in the neighborhood,鈥� Warford says.聽

In all, UTC has overseen the redevelopment of 29 vacant lots for communal growing and gathering. And last year through the farm stands, some 6,500 pounds of chemical-free produce were distributed primarily within Haddington, reaching more than 2,000 people ranging from youth to seniors.

For Warford, the work of UTC is personal. She grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, in a neighborhood she describes as similar to Haddington. Also, she was the first in her family to attend a four-year university.

鈥淚n a more traditional sense I have been able to be successful. I鈥檝e been able to go to college,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I feel a personal duty to make sure that whatever I鈥檝e been able to learn or gain, it is to advance the plight of people who just don鈥檛 have the same opportunities afforded to them.鈥�

Her work with land, especially when it comes to gardening, brings back family memories. 鈥淚t makes me think of being in my grandmother鈥檚 garden [and] cooking with her,鈥� she says.聽

Protecting green space

Warford and her team are particularly mindful of private development in the neighborhood, and the importance of both securing and preserving land for community gardens and the like.聽

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to see these spaces that community members have invested in ... turn into a condo for people who don鈥檛 even live here,鈥� she says. At the same time, she notes, they are careful not to interfere with efforts to develop affordable housing.

The presence of blighted lots in a neighborhood can diminish the morale of residents, Warford says, and the work to help members of the community reclaim those spaces is nothing short of transformative.

鈥淚t allows people to associate with their neighborhood in a different way 鈥� to operate with a sense of ease, to know there is this space that exists,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t is maintained, it is cared for, [and] it has also brought a lot of people together.鈥澛�

She adds, 鈥淎 lot of our core community leaders have emerged out of identifying these spaces together.鈥澛�

One of those leaders is Muhammad, who is appreciative of what she has gained through her involvement with the nonprofit.聽

鈥淚t is an awesome experience for the simple fact that the energy is positive,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd anything and everything that I needed in order to make it happen 鈥� they did it.鈥�

Owen Taylor is the founder of Truelove Seeds, an organization that has provided mentoring to UTC staff for seed keeping.聽

鈥淯TC鈥檚 farms, gardens, and fresh food markets bring more than health and jobs to Haddington 鈥� they also bring a way for community members, young and old, to shape and literally grow their neighborhood in positive and nourishing ways,鈥� says Mr. Taylor in an email interview. He also notes his positive impression of Warford: 鈥淣oelle is great to work with and has a strong vision for community-led change.鈥澛�

Another UTC partner is Chris Bolden-Newsome, co-director at the Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram鈥檚 Garden. Like Taylor, he sees Warford as a leader.

鈥淪he respects the community that she is in; that is huge,鈥� he says, adding that he trusts her leadership and decisions.

UTC鈥檚 annual budget averages $350,000, with revenue derived mostly from foundation support, donations from individuals, and some government funding from time to time. And while much of UTC鈥檚 produce is sold for nominal prices in Haddington, the organization operates a stand at Philadelphia鈥檚 Rittenhouse Square on Saturdays during the growing season and sells produce at cost to help cover expenses.聽

In her work, Warford is motivated by the needs that exist in Haddington and many other places, as well as what she describes as 鈥渁n attack on social programs.鈥�

鈥淲e are seeing that ... our communities are really experiencing suffering in the form of food insecurity,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e really need to think about our work in terms of how communities can come together to really take care of their own needs.鈥�

鈥� For more, visit

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