Land & Horticulture

Improving the open space of urban neighborhoods is central to Groundwork's mission. Activities include tree planting, park restoration, community gardens, business district planters, playground installation, murals and other beautification projects.

As in everything we do, success depends upon the strong involvement of the people using the open spaces. Here are some examples of past and ongoing projects that are still vibrant and living places in our neighborhoods:

Groundwork's Intergenerational Green Team program in Nodine Hill, with funding and programmatic guidance from the Helen Andrus Benedict Foundation, brings youth and older adults together to turn vacant lots into gardens each year. This "intergenerational" programming has been wildly successful in helping bridge the gaps between older residents and newcomers, and enabling Yonkers and the Hudson Valley to fulfill its historic promise of providing a home for immigrants.

The Culver Park Restoration Project in the Elliot Avenue neighborhood, generously funded by the Westchester Community Foundation and in cooperation with the Yonkers Parks Department, brings residents together to make changes to the park, culminating in the annual environmental festival in the park each year.

Our September 11th Memorial Garden on the Hudson waterfront is another example of the key role provided to Groundwork by the City of Yonkers. We were proud to be entrusted with this project.

Our "Everybody Tree" mural is probably our most impressive accomplishment. In a small open space accompanied by a few trees and subtle plantings, the mural is small in comparison to our other projects. But as a validation of the Groundwork process of deeply involving people so that they become stakeholders in a project, it is massive. Completed by local residents and Groundwork in 2000, the mural has never been vandalized, something that is rare in most urban neighborhoods.