Community Garden

The Center Street Community Garden was initiated by members of Pomona Presbyterian church, across the street from the Pomona Hope community center.

In 2010 the city of Pomona leased an empty lot across the street from the Community Center to the church for a Community Garden. In 2011 the garden was dedicated to the neighborhood as the Center Street Community Garden. Pomona Hope is proud to partner with the First Presbyterian Church of Pomona. This effort reduced crime in our immediate neighborhood by 40% in the first six months.

The vision of the garden is to grow food, people, and the community. Families tell us they save over $100 a month in grocery bills. In the future, Pomona Hope hopes to pilot a scalable model for urban green space and gardening, as well as continue to impact the local community positively in terms of decreasing crime, increasing relationships, allowing opportunities to learn about gardening, agriculture and nutrition, and improving the lives of neighbors both through the beauty they see outside their doors, and the nutrition of the food they can put on their dinner tables.

For more information or to rent a garden plot please reach our Garden Coordinator, Mark McReynolds, at [email protected]

Garden Updates

Center Street Community Garden is open to anybody in our community. The Gardeners are as diverse as their plot plants. Gardeners have ties to Mexico and several Central American countries, as well as Vietnam, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and of course the United States. The goal of the garden is to have people enjoy growing their own food and to get to know other people as we work in the garden together. Across the street First Presbyterian Church keeps track of Gardener’s payments and deposits and the non-profit ministry of Pomona Hope pays the Garden’s coordinator Mark McReynolds. The garden was started in 2009 because of people from First Presbyterian Church of Pomona said, “My goodness, that corner lot across the street is an ugly eyesore infested with tall weeds and plentiful garbage.” They asked the city of Pomona if the church could clean it up and eventually turn it into a community garden. Now it is more than a community garden. It’s actually a community park, an official City of Pomona park that focuses on gardening. As of December 2024, this new community garden park is still a concept being fleshed out. There will likely be some sort of infrastructure improvements as a part of the park’s adoption by the City.

Private plots are available for people that would like to grow their own food. They are 4‘ x 16‘ and along with a $10.00 a month’s rental comes free compost, seeds, tools, and water. Advice is free too. There’s also a refundable deposit fee of $60 to help clean up plots when owners have left behind a big mess. Gardeners leaving with plots in good condition get their deposits back.

If you want a plot connect with the Garden Coordinator. The garden also has many opportunities for volunteers, community service and academic interns. Plots or volunteer work can be arranged by sending an email to the Garden Coordinator, Mark McReynolds, at [email protected] or [email protected] . Hablamos Español.