How does Natasha Nicholes's collaboration with Chicago's Finest enhance community engagement in urban gardens?

When I talk about “Chicago’s Finest” visiting the garden, I’m talking about our local police coming into the space as neighbors, not just as law enforcement. They walked the beds with us, chatted about life, and we started planning for them to volunteer in the garden the following month.

That simple shift—from patrol cars to planting—does a few things for community engagement in an urban garden:

• It makes the garden a neutral, welcoming space where officers and residents work side by side instead of only meeting in crisis.
• It shows young people, especially on the South Side, a different model of relationship with police: collaborating, building, and growing food together.
• It strengthens trust and visibility for the garden itself, which helps draw in more volunteers, families, and partners who might otherwise be hesitant.

Underneath it all, my goal with We Sow We Grow is to prove that good absolutely does come out of Chicago—by letting people literally come and see it growing out of the ground, alongside their neighbors in uniform.

Is there a particular angle you’re interested in—youth engagement, safety, or partnership models for your own community garden?