Public Safety
Food Insecurity Program
West Side Grows has teamed up with The Village Tree and Bright Spot Farms to help provide 30 shares of fresh local produce each week to food insecure families. The novel program is sponsored through a grant of $25,100 from St. Francis Hospital, addressing food insecurity and health challenges in the West Side. Families are identified through in-patient screenings performed at St. Francis Hospital. Each week fresh local produce is harvested and delivered from Bright Spot Farms and The Village Tree to designated pick-up sites. In addition to produce shares, the program supports volunteer opportunities at The Village Tree and West Side Grows community garden, as well as gardening and healthy food workshops.
In early 2019 West Side Grows Together partnered with the Help Initiative Inc. and Wilmington Police Department to install lights on the exterior of 500 homes in a target area around Judy Johnson park based on concentrated areas of criminal activity in the area. Additionally, this program saves homeowners and renters money on their utility bills by installing energy efficient lights bulbs on the exterior of homes free of charge, and engages youth and other neighborhood partners and volunteers to install the lights. The Lights On Wilmington Strong project was established with financial support from Christiana Care and Energize Delaware.
Lights On, Wilmington Strong
Rock the Block
In 2022, West Side Grows Together partnered with Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County and Be Ready CDC to bring Ring video doorbells to residents who requested them along the 4th Street Corridor. Rock the Block is an extension of Habitat for Humanity’s work to revitalize neighborhoods in New Castle County. One family, one block, one street at a time. Neighborhood residents and partners team up with Habitat staff and volunteers for a one or two-day blitz to repair, refresh, and restore a neighborhood where Habitat is currently building. These video doorbells enable residents and neighbors to feel a sense of personal safety and some residents have commented on the added benefit of being able to monitor their loved ones arriving home safely.
