MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Southeast Memphis neighborhood leaders continue to join forces, better their blocks and offer hope.
ABC24 first told you about a newly formed group alliance in the spring. Since then, organizers aren't letting up in improving their surroundings.
"This is very important to our community because we just don't have a park or any access to fresh food," Black Seeds Urban Farms co-owner Derravia Rich said.
Rich's family roots in the Castalia Heights neighborhood goes back generations.
"This community is filled with families, so a garden or park is ideal," Rich added.
Next month, Rich plans to plant the first vegetables on a nearly one-acre of donated land on Castalia Street. The year-round garden will be a labor of love and proof seeds of labor can pay off - from those who believe in the neighborhood and its future.
"Everything about a garden is a community. The benefit, the social aspects, the engagements that come with just a garden is exactly what we need here in this community," Rich said.
The garden is the latest effort by the Southeast Memphis Economic Corridor, which also participated in a community cleanup last month. It's made up of five community associations fighting common challenges: blight, crime, and disinvestment on their blocks.
"It's important because I love my community and I don't to see it go down. And I know there's some good left in the world," Magnolia-Castalia Community Association President Carolyn Goodwin said.
Organizers said the planned community garden in Castalia Heights is just the beginning, as neighboring community associations are using their collective voice and thinking bigger.
"You've got numbers so when we go and we talk to the politicians and the leaders and we are asking for different things, there is power in numbers," Goodwin added.
Those with the group said its next major focus area is securing city or county dollars to either renovate or rebuild the Magnolia Community Center, which closed indefinitely in 2019.