Rebuilding Together NYC She Builds Committee to Develop Bronx Community Garden

September 19, 2022

The She Builds Committee of Rebuilding Together NYC is hosting a community revitalization service project to create a garden complex for the Southeast Bronx Neighborhood Centers.

She Builds is bringing together real estate industry leaders on Sept. 30 for its sixth annual rebuilding day to “make it sow.” Participants will spend the day transforming a 7,000-square-foot lot in the Bronx, bordered by Prospect Avenue and East 168th Street, into a community garden that will also include nearby gathering spaces and classrooms. When complete, the garden will include a variety of vegetables and herbs, including tomatoes, zucchini, kale, spinach, onions and basil.

Valerie Payne, executive director of Rebuilding Together NYC, said that the Bronx is a noted food desert, where residents face nutritional insecurity at levels nearly twice as high as the New York state average. The COVID-19 epidemic has only exacerbated this problem.

“Creating a community garden will increase the neighborhood’s access to healthy, affordable and sustainable food,” said She Builds Committee co-chair Laurie A. Grasso, co-chair of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s global real estate practice. “Our project aims to harness our real estate community to play a part in improving citizens’ health and alleviating some of the disparities that exist in our city.”

She Builds Committee co-chair Laura Jackson, SL Green Realty Corp. senior vice president, added: “Our sixth annual She Builds community revitalization event reflects our ongoing mission to provide hands-on support for under-resourced women and their families. We’re proud of the longtime efforts of our She Builds colleagues and partners, who generously provide their talents, time and resources to serve our community.”

The She Builds day of service also will support Rebuilding Together NYC’s Careers in Construction program, which reskills New Yorkers for family-sustaining careers in construction. Details regarding financial sponsorships for the event can be found here, and current sponsors include:

  • Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
  • SL Green Realty Corp.
  • Greystar Real Estate Partners
  • The Domain Companies
  • Nahla Capital
  • Duval and Stachenfeld LLP
  • EisnerAmper LLP
  • Meridian Capital Group
  • Cole Schotz P.C.
  • First Republic Bank
  • L+M Development Partners LLC
  • First American Title Insurance Company
  • FTI Consulting, Inc.
  • Goodwin Procter
  • Medical Properties Trust
  • Stewart Title Insurance Company
  • Sills Cummis & Gross P.C.
  • Douglaston Development
  • Invesco
  • Savanna
  • Structure Tone
  • Liberty Building Products
  • Bronx Pro Group
  • Brause Realty Inc.
  • Yagoda Real Estate
  • BentallGreenOak

 
About She Builds – New York City

The She Builds Committee of Rebuilding Together New York City organizes an annual community revitalization event with 100+ volunteers from the real estate industry to improve a nonprofit facility that supports under-resourced women and their families. The She Builds program harnesses the technical knowledge and skills of influential female real estate industry leaders to promote safe and healthy living conditions for women and families across New York City. https://rebuildnyc.org/events/she-builds-2022

About SEBNC

Southeast Bronx Neighborhood Centers, Inc. is a not-for-profit multiservice agency, whose mission statement is to plan, develop, and provide services that enhance the quality of life and facilitate empowerment of the constituents of the Southeast Bronx. https://sebnc.org/