Raised Bed Program

Grantee Selection 

In GrowBoston’s first round of grantee selection, four organizations were chosen to build the first round of raised bed gardens. The organizations were chosen through a public Request for Proposals (RFP) process. First-round grantees include the The Food Project (Dorchester), Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, Inc. (East Boston), Round Table, Inc. (South Boston), and We Grow Microgreens (Hyde Park)

In the second and final round of grantee selection, six organizations were chosen to build the remaining raised bed gardens. The following organizations were chosen through a grant process: 

• MissionSafe: Constructing 12 raised-bed gardens in the Fields Corner area of Dorchester in partnership with VietAID and ADSL for  low-income households and organizational usage.
• YouthBuild: Constructing 80 double-height and 20 elevated raised-bed gardens for low-income households and public facilities, constructed through their youth employment program. 
• Green City Growers: Constructing 175 raised-bed gardens for low-income households across the city.
• Urban Farming Institute: Constructing raised-bed gardens for 40 low-income households in Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury.
• The Food Project:  Constructing raised-bed gardens for 200 low-income households in Roxbury and Dorchester through their Build-a-Garden program, employing youth. and engaging volunteers. 
• Brighton Allston Congregational Church: Constructing 5 raised-bed gardens on church property to grow and distribute food through their on-site food pantry, which is open to the public.

Residents Selection

The Office of Food Justice (OFJ) connects eligible residents interested in receiving raised bed gardens to the organizations providing the beds. The recipients are low-income households based in neighborhoods most affected by food insecurity in Boston. Residents are primarily referred through OFJ’s partnering organizations or through direct involvement with one of the above grantee organizations. 

Planning and Building

Grantee organizations are responsible for building raised bed gardens for program participants. This includes the bed frames, soil, seedlings, and any other necessary bed additions. Grantees are required to build custom beds that allow accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Education 

Through our new Urban Agriculture Ambassador program, GrowBoston will provide garden education, technical assistance, and support for residents at home gardens, community gardens, and public facilities with a focus on equity and cultural relevance. Raised bed recipients will be connected directly with an Ambassador who will provide 1:1 support to support their gardening knowledge. The goal of this education is to provide residents with the skills and knowledge to successfully tend to their gardens and to feel confident in their ability to grow food sustainably. 

• Beds built as of October 2024: 292
• 2021: The Office of Food Justice (OFJ) launched a $300,000 pilot food Sovereignty Grant which provided funding to urban farming grantees to install raised bed gardens across Boston. This laid the foundation for GrowBoston’s program. 
• Summer 2023: GrowBoston’s Raised Bed Program began, with selected partnersThe Food Project, Round Table, Inc., We Grow Microgreens, and NOAH, Inc. The Office of Food Justice began recruiting low-income residents interested in receiving a bed.
• Fall 2023: Our partners navigated challenges of rainy summer weather, training staff and volunteers, transporting materials, and the hard physical labor of lugging soil, in order to build 110 beds by early October.
• Winter 2024: By February, 144 beds were complete. Partners are taking a break from building beds over the cold winter months. They are focusing on the recruitment process in order to reach interested residents. Two of the four organizations have completed educational workshops with garden bed recipients.
• Spring 2024:  Partner constructed a total of 286 raised beds for low-income, Boston residents and provided residents with hands-on education and seedlings to get started in their gardens. 
• Fall 2024: GrowBoston selected six new organizations to construct the remaining 514 garden beds. This work will be carried out between Fall 2024 - Fall 2026.