Founded in 2017, Grow Greater Englewood (GGE) is rooted in the Englewood neighborhood. A 501(c)(3) social enterprise, GGE focuses on creating sustainable local food economies, green businesses, and land sovereignty with the goal of empowering residents to create wellness and wealth. Among its ecosystem of neighborhood farms is Getting Grown Collective, which supports three gardens and programs and partners with LVEJO (Little Village Environmental Justice Organization) in its work on food justice and community healing. The Backyard Gardens Program supports small-scale, backyard gardening to help provide residents with access to organic produce, medicinal herbs, and flowers. GGE’s Englewood Food Sovereignty Network is also piloting a program to facilitate hyper-local food delivery in the neighborhood.
The Englewood Village Plaza, a former vacant lot on the southwest corner of 58th and Halsted Streets, hosts community gatherings and the Englewood Village Market, a farmer’s market that takes place on select Saturdays June through October and connects residents with fresh produce from local farms, Black-owned small businesses selling food and other goods, and a variety of activities including performances, chef demos, and health and wellness sessions. The Plaza also serves as the entry point to the Englewood Nature Trail (ENT), a a community effort involving multiple partners, spearheaded by Grow Greater Englewood, that will transform an abandoned elevated rail line into a 2-mile linear park providing opportunities to enjoy recreation in a natural setting. The Trail will anchor a flourishing Englewood “Agro-Eco District” and create linkages between the neighborhood’s network of farms to support local food access, community health and wellness, and business and job development.
The Backyard Garden Program is collaborating with ReSOURCE to co-facilitate five days of art programming for youth participants to gather found materials for upcycling and repurposing from Backyard Gardens, Community Gardens and Community Farms in Englewood. Participants will then present their artworks at the end of the Fall program that will culminate with a community gathering.