Building Sustainable Neighborhoods through Community Gardens: Enhancing Residents’ Well-being through University–Community Engagement Initiative

Urban Farm DB summary

A needs-assessment study followed by the establishment of a community garden in a neighborhood in Bakersfield, California (2015), collected survey and focus-group data from residents and garden participants to examine the garden's impact. Findings showed strong support for the garden and reported benefits to participants' physical and mental health, social capacities, and spiritual well-being at both the individual and neighborhood level. The authors present the project as an example of how university-community engagement initiatives can function as a macro-practice intervention framework for students, practitioners, and community leaders.