Strike a Chord: Non-profit Helps Residents Turn Vacant Lots Into Green Spaces

Jane Best Sandoval’s home is 462 Halsey Street, Brooklyn. But her house is across the street.

"All day every chance I get I run in here. As soon as you enter the gate you don’t think of anything else but what you’re coming in here to do," said Sandoval.

Every morning she crosses the street to open 462 Halsey Community Garden to the public. The garden has planting beds for fruits, vegetables and herbs. There’s a strawberry patch, a picnic table, and a compost center in the back. But it didn’t always look like this.

"It was a dump site. Mattress, you name it. Truckloads of garbage. Everything was in here. Or if the gates was closed they threw it over the fence. That’s how bad it was," said Sandoval.

Things began to change three years ago, when neighborhood resident Shatia Strother saw a posted sign with information on how to transform the lot into public land. She called the program’s director Paula Segal - and she wasn’t the only one. Another resident had already seen the sign. 

"We both reached out to her within a day of each other. And Paula was like hey I think you guys should link up since you both have the same idea for the same space," said Strother.

The organization that brought Strother together with her neighbors was 596 Acres. It distributes signs telling residents how they can transform vacant lots in their area, connects neighbors, and guides groups through the legal process of making these spots public green land.

You can find more of the organization's resources at 596acres.org.