Community Gardening/Local Foods Initiative Photo Gallery

Please click on the picture to view our gallery.

Special thanks to the University of Illinois Extension for all the wonderful pictures!

Hoops in the Hood

Between June and August of 2009, the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council worked with local Ward offices, youth agencies, park districts, schools, residents and the Chicago Police Department to implement a traveling Hoops in the Hood program aimed at deterring youth from gangs and drugs while promoting healthy lifestyles.

The program was created by other community organizations and duplicated in the Back of the Yards with funding and technical assistance from the Local Initiatives Support Coalition (LISC) to help to combat increasing crime rates in the community by using activities in public spaces as crime deterrents. For this reason, rather than using park facilities to host the tournament, the BYNC cooperated with block clubs and local Ward offices to close a targeted block every Friday night between June 19th and July 24th, 2009 (with the exception of Friday, July 3rd). The program is designed to change local attitudes about community and bring a sense of hope and progress to residents, while giving them the opportunity to organize and reclaim their streets.

The Hoops in the Hood program gave about 95 youth ages 11 to 15 from 6 agencies – Cornell Park, Davis Square Park, Kids & Kops (9th District), Lara Academy, St. Michael the Archangel, and UNION Impact Center – an opportunity to participate in a five night basketball tournament on Friday nights. Participants were split into two age brackets consisting of 11 to 12 year olds and 13 to 15 year olds.

Please click on the thumbnail to see pictures from the 2009 Hoops in the Hood Season.

2009 Community Gardens

The Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council sponsors two community gardens in the Back of the Yards, one located at 5004 S Paulina, and one located at 4622 S Paulina.  The gardens were established during the summer of 2009 by the BYNC staff, representatives from the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener program, and 59 youth from the community, with funding from the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the City of Chicago Department of Family Support Services.  Click HERE to read about that program.

The Garden located at 5004 S Paulina, “The All Love Garden” is open to the public and raised beds are available for community members to adopt and use to grow their own vegetables and herbs.  Please call Sean O’Farrell at (773) 523-4416 to inquire about adopting a bed.

The Garden located at 4622 S Paulina, the Jardin de las Flores, is not open to the public at this time.  This garden is used for training future gardeners and teaching children about gardening, the environment, and composting.  For information on how to get your school or youth group involved in gardening, please call Sean O’Farrell at (773) 523-4416.  Sean is also available to help you start a worm composting bin in your classroom!  Eeeww!