In 2009, a D.C. organization started with an idea of creating safe green spaces for low-income students.
Nine years later, City Blossoms empowers young people to take control of their health while also becoming entrepreneurs by helping establish urban gardens.
“I just moved here from Georgia two years ago and I was at soccer practice and I was just coming past the greenhouse, saw the garden, and I was just so intrigued because it was so big and pretty,” Rasha Rida said.
City Blossoms taught her about food access and being grateful.
“So many people don’t eat, it’s crazy,” she said.
She’s trying to help change that.
“Not only do we learn how grow this stuff, we also make value-added products, so it’s teaching us how to make this into something we can make money for and keep our garden going, and that’s what Miss Malka and Miss Rebecca have taught us: Be the change you want to see in the world,” Rida said.
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“For City Blossoms, what we really try to do is just create the space and put the tools out there, maybe convince some young people to come outside for a minute and then kind of see where they take it,” Rebecca Lemos said.
Their youth program runs Mighty Greens, which sells produce at farmers markets and donates 20 percent of its food to Capital Area Food Bank or Martha’s Table.
“In my best dreams, Mighty Greens would become like Girl Scouts,” Rida said. “There would be Mighty Greens all over the world.”
To visit one of City Blossoms’ gardens, check their schedules here.
Reported by Leon Harris, produced by Michelle Rivera and edited by Perkins Broussard.
