Fitzwater 2000 Community Garden

Community gardens -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Fitzwater 2000 (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Neighborhood Gardens Trust (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Urban gardening -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

"The Fitzwater 2000 Garden Association was started in 1995 by residents to address the problem of vacant lots created when a fire destroyed abandoned buildings on the 2000 block of Fitzwater Street. The lots were filling with debris and becoming a haven for illicit activities.

The residents, in partnership with Philadelphia Green/PHS, cleaned and fenced these lots and turned them into an award winning Community Garden-one that has won city wide recognition in city garden contests year after year.

Through this project, a deep sense of community developed, and the members began to tackle other social problems. In the first few years, the group organized efforts to have abandoned cars removed from the block and to ensure that unsafe buildings and lots were cleaned and sealed. In the past couple of years, regular block clean ups have been instituted, a Neighborhood Watch Program was started, and approximately thirty feral cats have been humanely trapped and neutered.

Most recently, this group effectively lobbied the city regarding the importance of community managed green spaces, thereby securing Neighborhood Transformation Initiative funds for the preservation of the Fitzwater 2000 Community Garden. Neighborhood Gardens Association (NGA) has been our partner in this endeavor–the board passed a resolution supporting preservation of the garden. In September 2007 the property was finally and permanently deeded to the Neighborhood Gardens Association to be preserved as a community garden well into the future. The Fitzwater 2000 Garden Association proudly excercises stewardship of this valuable community space." -- Fitzwater 2000 Garden Association webpage. Accessed February 12, 2023.

This collection contains images courtesy of Stephen Maciejewski, Fitzwater 2000 Community Garden