Our History
Louisville Grows was founded by a group of “guerilla gardeners” gathering to make seed bombs in their living rooms. Their goal was to spread the importance of greening our community. This marked the beginning of Louisville Grows' assistance to community groups and individuals on their journey towards sustainability.
- 2009-2011
- Officially designated as a 501(c)(3) organization
- Works with Metro Council District 5 to develop a vision for a 5-acre mixed-use agricultural site, The People’s Garden, located at 536 North 44th Street in the Shawnee neighborhood.
- Starts with community members, the Shippingport Memorial Garden in Portland, the Community Green School in Parkland, and the Hope Community Garden in Beechmont.
- Assists in creating 13 community gardens focusing on food-insecure neighborhoods. Community members to start the Shippingport Memorial Garden in Portland, the Community Green School in Parkland, and the Hope Community Garden in Beechmont.
- 2013
- Conducts our first neighborhood tree planting in an all-out effort to restore the urban tree canopy and remediate the urban heat island effect in the community’s most impacted neighborhoods.
- 2015
- Begins our annual Seeds & Starts Sale to provide low-cost plants, fruit trees, and berry bushes to community gardeners. Plants are started in the greenhouse by our volunteers from seed. Proceeds from the sale of the plants support the Community Garden Grant program.
- Partners with Gate of Hope Ministries create Hope Community Farm, a 45-member community garden, farm, and CSA located at 1400 Bicknell Avenue for refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.
- 2017
- Opens their new office and community space, Healthy House, located at 1641 Portland Avenue. The Healthy House is an engaging, energy-efficient, sustainable community space providing programming focused on healthy eating and living, environmental education, and equity.
- Releases the Louisville Grows Community Garden Toolkit and Garden Grant program to sponsor community gardens throughout Jefferson County.
- Established as a Sponsor and project site with the Corporation for Community and National Service AmeriCorps VISTA program.
- 2018
- Assists the Shelby Park Neighborhood Association in achieving its goal of planting 500 trees within 5 years.
- Develops consistent programming for Healthy Health, expanding our outreach within the community
- 2019
- Louisville Grows plants its 3,000th tree in neighborhoods.
- Becomes a partner of the Green Heart Louisville project.
