Claudies Urban Community Gardens

When I first came into the food production space, there was a lot of talk about food deserts, and food justice for all. I didn't really know anything about food insecurity, but I know I wanted to grow as much food as possible. There were already quite a few local growers who were working to bring healthy food to struggling communities, so I kept brainstorming what role I could play in the fight. While working with my good friend and mentor, Tyrean Lewis of Heru Urban Farming and Gardens, I noticed a lot of people were asking him to build them a garden. His usual response was, "I just don't have the time." One day we were talking and he said to me, "E, there's a need for people who want gardens. I just can't do it because I have too many other obligations. I think you're the perfect guy for the job."

There were plenty of reasons to not take on such a task: "What if people's gardens don't grow right," "What if pests attack their garden," "who's going to water it," and the biggest reason of all, "That's a lot of hard work!" Even though there were plenty of reasons not to build gardens for others, the reasons TO build gardens for others started to ring loud and clear. "There isn't enough healthy food to go around," "The empty lots around the city can be used for gardens," "They can beautify communities," "They can bring hope to hurting people." The more I thought about it, the more empowered I felt to take on the task. After a hunting trip to Alabama, I decided to jump in the game by starting Claudie's Urban Gardens LLC in February 2023. Our goal was simply to do family gardens for a few hundred dollars each. We ended up building 10 successful home gardens that first year. The next year, we did a few more family gardens, but we were approached to do two community gardens, one for the Legacy Center and the other for the Wesley House Association. We saw this as an opportunity to expand the scope of our services. So we took on the challenge and built and maintained our first community gardens. Between those two gardens, we grew over 1,500 pounds of food for their community members. This is where the vision for Claudie's Urban Community Gardens was birthed.

After seeing the impact our community gardens had on the neighborhood, we decided to focus solely on building community gardens. Our strategy was simple: partner with organizations who are already serving community members and build a garden for them to feed the community members they serve. The idea made perfect sense, but there was one problem: funding! Most of the organizations that wanted to work with us didn't have enough funds to pay for the garden installation and maintenance care. After trying to figure out how to become more affordable to our clients, I was approached, "by a local community leader who believed in our work. He said to me, "If you're serious, I'll help you get your nonprofit and 501c3 status." Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity and founded Claudie's Urban Community Gardens in April of 2025.

Fast forward to the spring of 2026, Claudie's Urban Community Gardens is making a difference in the fight for food insecurity. We've now established six community gardens, each one capable of producing over 1,000 pounds of food annually. In addition, we've created 5 programs to go alongside our gardens, with 4 of the programs being implemented in 2026. We've already fed over 50 seniors from our GPS program, trained over 60 people from our Food Insecurity Initiative Gardening Program, implemented our Productive Parents Gardening Program at UCLA (That's right, THE UCLA) Head Start Program, and will be teaching our SEL Youth Gardening Program to over 50 youth this summer. We are being approached weekly by organizations who want our gardens and programs at their facility.

Despite the success we've experienced, we still need a lot of help. We are a two-person operation and I work 60-70 hours/week to keep everything together. We need funding to increase staff, get better equipment, and acquire office space. We don't want our organization to be a one-hit-wonder, here one year and gone the next. We want to create a path to sustainability. We have a 5-year goal of building and maintaining 30 community gardens in food desert areas of St. Louis, but we can't do it without your help. Please consider donating today to Claudie's Urban Community Gardens and support us in the fight for food justice across St. Louis.