Gritty and Green presents a four part miniseries, We Are Seeds, featuring community gardens around Philadelphia with stories of the past and present as told by the gardeners that tend the beds.
Klean Kensington is a nonprofit that pays youth for their work creating and maintaining community gardens by clearing out vacant lots. The idea came to Jeremy Chen when he was leading a group of volunteers in a neighborhood clean up after the George Floyd protests during the pandemic. The streets needed to be cleaned, the teens needed to be paid and the neighborhood needed some gardens. Since then, well paid teens in Kensington have cleaned up empty lots that became dumping sites, turning them into community gardens. They maintain at least 7 gardens within a few blocks of Kensington, growing flowers and food and most importantly showing neighbors that they can have beautiful green spaces. They’ve also helped resurrect old community gardens that fell into disarray, like the Philadelphia Harvest Hope Community Garden, that is now maintained by neighbors. Klean Kensington also uses their workforce to help other organizations, like Kensington Corridor Trust. By mentoring and paying teens for their work, teaching them skills to bring into their adult lives, and bettering the neighborhood, Klean Kensington shows that big issues need a local touch.
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