Kinney Community Garden

Kinney Community Garden is a thriving community-driven green space in Newark, New Jersey; founded by Barbara Weiland, a long-time educator. In 2017 there were no prior experiences with urban agriculture, $1, and a desire to build a community from nothing. Now there exists an incredible garden that increases access to healthy food, provides educational experiences, and invites everyone to come, grow, and share.

Kinney Community Garden occupies a previous vacant lot that was obtained through Newark’s Adopt-a-Lot program. At its core is the intentionality that builds trust, inclusion, and collective ownership. Kinney Community Garden is a center for vocational training, environmental education, community wellbeing, and creative expression. Community members of all ages grow food, share food, organize events, and lead workshops, cooking demonstrations, and children’s programming.

Kinney is more than just a garden, it is a way of finding healing, a source of pride, and a place to claim community ownership. It functions through community partnerships at the local level including partnerships with organizations like Rutgers University, Newark Community Food System and an impact partner for the multi-year Fresh, Healthy Food Access Grant from Whole Cities Foundation.

Kinney Community Garden remains a source of inspiration demonstrating how each action counts, whether we are sweeping a sidewalk or planting a seed, we can produce community that grows into long-term change.

Learn More

We always encourage looking into important organizations around you to see how you can best contribute and look into their work. To learn more about Kinney Community Garden, check out this article!