Sowing Seeds of Community: NYCHA’s 2025 Farms and Gardens Summit
On April 26, the Ingersoll Community Center in Downtown Brooklyn was transformed into a hub of green energy, community spirit, and resident empowerment for the 2025 NYCHA Farms and Gardens Summit. With over 300 residents, community partners, youth leaders, and urban agriculture advocates in attendance, this year’s Summit built on a tradition of cultivating not only fruits and vegetables but also resilience, education, and connection across NYCHA developments.
Hosted annually by NYCHA’s Department of Resident Health Initiatives (RHI), the Farms and Gardens Summit serves as a critical touchpoint for current and aspiring gardeners living in NYCHA communities, providing workshops, hands-on training, networking opportunities, and resources. The 2025 Summit featured 10 dynamic workshops — eight for adults and two for youth — led by a coalition of nonprofit partners and City agencies. The day’s activities supported the NYCHA Farms and Gardens mission to build collaboration between residents and other partners to activate open and green spaces, grow community health and wellbeing, and expand multigenerational stewardship.“We are thrilled to see such strong participation from across all five boroughs,” said Shanna Castillo, Senior Director of Resident Initiatives, in her opening remarks. “This Summit is a celebration of the people-powered movement to build greener, healthier NYCHA communities.”
NYCHA Resident Gardeners and Farmers from all over New York City
attended the 2025 Farms & Gardens Summit at Ingersoll Community Center
Learning, Growing, and Leading
The day began with a resource fair and welcome session, followed by morning workshops on a wide range of topics, including Food as Medicine, Composting in Your Community, Integrated Pest Management, Grant Writing for Gardens, and Food Justice. Youth participants enjoyed interactive workshops about insects, composting, and healthy snacks, presented by Compost Power and NYCHA’s RHI team.
NYCHA resident Nathalie Rigaud found the workshops thoroughly engaging: “The Food as Medicine session was very interactive — we made chickpea ‘tuna’ without tuna, focusing on plant-based basics. The Environmental and Food Justice workshop felt like a powerful history lesson; it helped us imagine a dream neighborhood together.”
The day featured workshops on a wide range of topics, including Food as Medicine,
Composting in Your Community, Integrated Pest Management, Grant Writing for Gardens, and Food Justice.
In the afternoon, keynote speaker Heather Butts, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, energized her audience on themes of health equity, youth engagement, and the power of local food systems. “Today was really inspirational,” Professor Butts said.“It’s clear NYCHA residents are passionate about gardening and healthy food and are supported by NYCHA and a network of strong partners.”
“I was inspired, once again, by the NYCHA Farms and Gardens Summit, and grateful for the opportunity to acknowledge all the terrific work being done in building critical food security infrastructure with the Farms at NYCHA and the NYCHA gardens program,” said Qiana Mickie, Executive Director, NYC Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture. “In these uncertain times, it has never been more important to put the power into the hands of communities to enable their own local food production and to facilitate fresh food access for themselves and their neighbors. From effective workforce development to health, wellness, and access to green space, NYCHA is moving the needle for residents.”
Collaboration Makes It Grow
With nine community partners facilitating workshops and 11 additional partners tabling at the resource fair, covering topics from composting to geological agriculture, the Summit showcased a deep bench of organizational support for the NYCHA Farms and Gardens community. Presenters included GrowNYC, Plant Powered Metro NY, NYC Parks GreenThumb, Geological Agriculture (GeoAg), and the Citizens Committee for NYC, among others.
“It was wonderful to see residents from so many communities come out and engage on this important topic,” said Darold Burgess, President of the Ingersoll Houses Resident Association, which hosted the event. “These days more than ever, we value activities that work across generations and build community through beautification.”
Looking Ahead: A Season of Growth
NYCHA continues to support resident-led gardening through its Garden Registry Application, a simple one-page form available in multiple languages [English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese (traditional), Chinese (simplified)]. This form must be submitted to a development’s property management office for approval. Once registered, a garden gains access to NYCHA’s technical assistance, training opportunities, and growing supplies throughout the season.
Residents who want to start or expand their community’s garden should reach out to NYCHA’s Farms and Gardens team by emailing gardens@nycha.nyc.gov or calling (212) 306-8282. They can also sign up for a newsletter, seasonal updates, and workshop notifications.