LIVELACGC and SCCGC
Solano Canyon Community Garden is a 5 acre open space located in Elysian Park in Central Los Angeles near Dodger Stadium. We are a community garden and farm open to everyone. We have individual beds which are leased on a yearly basis with a membership of approximately 20 people and a communal farm with a volunteer base which has currently reached approximately 120 people. The garden is currently seeking funded upgrades to expand the capacity of volunteers to serve the community via weekly empowerment workshops, food pantries and much more.
In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
Central LA
What is the problem that you are seeking to address?
We are seeking to address the following problems: Net access to healthy food; food insecurity; housing affordability; water pollution; air quality; healthcare access; renewable energy use; property rate; water-use efficiency; local water; resilient communities; mental illness; access to mental health services; tree canopy cover; older adult well-being; and homelessness. — Through supported community outreach, the problems listed above are impacted by 1) Hosting two work-days a week which serve as community building and informal education on farming techniques, 2) Hosting City Plants Tree Adoption events monthlyHosting Bi Monthly workshops and classes on a variety of farming and gardening subjects, 4) Opening the garden daily for several hours to volunteers and the public, 5) Donating food from the farm to local food pantries, and 6) Hosting weekly food for donation sales.
Describe the project, program, or initiative that this grant will support to address the problem identified.
Safety, Action, and Maintenance: Clip on/Drill on Monitored Solar lights $500 Retaining walls- to be built and repaired, ≈300 linear feet. The fence surrounding the orchard (CALTrans land) needs to be reinforced. Labor for retaining walls 200-600 hours at $25.00 per hour, $5,000 - 15,000 Signs made and installed in the garden, stating rules, hours, listing resources such as mental health and public safety contacts. $150 - 200 Increase composting capacity- increasing capacity to process 10,000+lbs food waste per year. Upgrading and expanding composting capacity. $4,000 Design and build greenhouse ≈200 sq.ft. $5,000 - 9,000 Funding for education programs- 125 teaching hours and materials for bi weekly workshops. Education Program Labor 125 hours @ 25 $3,125 labor + $1,200 materials. Tree maintenance, 100 hours. @ $50.00 per hour. $5,000. Tree limbs removed from large eucalyptuses. Equipment and tools- 6” Wood Chipper ($3,500), 90cc Chainsaw ($1,800), 25cc Climbing Chainsaw ($1,800), 36” Alaskan Mill ($400), 2000 watt Generator ($1,500), Hand Tools (1/2” Drill, 5” Grinder, 36” Felco pruners,10” Chopsaw, 2 1/2lbs Forestry Axe, Handsaws (Japanese pruning+crosscutting)) ($800), 2nd Knaak Job Box ($1500) Funds to pay 1 to 2 part time staff, $25,000 year Drip irrigation for farm- repairing and utilizing existing infrastructure. Repairing and setting up drip irrigation $8,000 Hire Professional web designer for building Solano Community Garden’s Website $5,000- 10,000
In what stage of innovation is this project, program, or initiative?
Expand existing project, program, or initiative
Approximately how many people will be impacted by this project, program, or initiative?
Direct Impact: 10,000
Indirect Impact: 1,000,000
Describe how Los Angeles County will be different if your work is successful.
1. Producing 10,000lbs of food from the communal farm per year. To be given away or exchanged for donation in 2022. 2. Education programs offering free twice monthly classes on gardening, farming, sustainability and other related subjects. Serving 240 - 360 attendees per year. 3. City Plants tree adoption program, goal of distributing 1000 trees in 2021. 4. Building 7 new beds for lease in the community garden by September of 2021 5. Planting Orchard (50-100 fruit and native trees) on Solano’s CALTrans parcel. 6. Milling our own lumber using logs from trees that need to be removed. 7. Holding free events which share healthy food and cooking practices. Hosting chiefs and medicinal plant experts, and suitability leaders through creating programming which serves education, celebration, and community building. 8. Create a library housed in a 20ft shipping container filled with books on farming, gardening, cooking, wellness, health, resilience and sustainability.
What evidence do you have that this project, program, or initiative is or will be successful, and how will you define and measure success?
Our current outlook on data analysis is throughout our websites, social media, virtually, and socially distant in-person in generating a flowing capacity of volunteers which we are now seeking to expand. The primary source of evidence would be in Google Suite to keep our data consistent in supporting Our Community in net access to healthy food, food insecurity, housing affordability, water pollution, air quality, healthcare access, renewable energy use, property rate, water-use efficiency, local water, resilient communities, mental illness, access to mental health services, tree canopy cover, older adult well-being, and homelessness. We are honored to generate and identify information and expand capacity since the Solano Canyon Community Garden has shown great promise in Community Outreach.
Describe the role of collaborating organizations on this project.
Solano Canyon Community Garden has agreed to team up with the Los Angeles Community Garden Council for the LA2050 Grant because this grant would be great for the overall Community.
Which of the LIVE metrics will you impact?
Access to healthy food
Food insecurity
Tree canopy cover
Indicate any additional LA2050 goals your project will impact.
LA is the best place to LEARN