2024 Green Grants Award #23: Bragg Hill Community Garden

Photograph of people in a garden area with vegetables growing.Congratulations to the University of Mary Washington (UMW) Center for Community Engagement for their award of $750 Green Grant to benefit the Bragg Hill Community Garden!

The UMW Center for Community Engagement is located on the Fredericksburg campus of the University of Mary Washington. Founded in 2019, the mission is to serve as a catalyst for community engagement between UMW and the greater communities, building bridges between students, faculty, staff, and community partners through effective relationships that bring about student learning and positive social change.  UMW students regularly engage in the community and support weekly and monthly volunteer programs addressing community needs. The Bragg Hill Community Garden (BHCG) is one of many projects designed with community needs in mind.

The BHCG serves a diverse, lower income neighborhood and provides access to greenspace, food, and outdoor recreation free of charge to city residents. The City of Fredericksburg’s Parks & Rec provides access to the land and free water, and a group of leaders at UMW manage the garden and recruit UMW student volunteers to assist with building and maintaining the garden plots. The garden seeks to provide access regardless of economic hardship, physical disability or language barriers.

Funds from the Green Grants award will be used to purchase supplies for the garden, including plants, new hoses, additional hoes, rakes, shovels, pruners, and trimmers.  This will allow the project to continue providing free tools, plants, garden beds, and other resources to numerous community members each year, regardless of their financial standing. This is part of our social justice mission providing access to greenspace, food, and outdoor recreation free of charge to residents, so there are no barriers to participation.

The garden, heading into its 3rd year, has been successful in “placemaking” and beautifying the Bragg Hill neighborhood.  They have successfully worked with residents of the neighborhood and community organizations to not only convert an abandoned lot into a beautiful flower and vegetable garden, but to have also created a public space where neighbors can gather, “strengthening the connection between people and the places they share.”

The Center for Community Engagement and the students are committed to the maintenance of the Bragg Hill Community Garden, which has become a vibrant heart of the community.  For them, it’s an investment in the well-being of both people and the planet!

Thank you UMW for making the Bragg Hill Community Garden such a beautiful place!