1. Bridge Urban Farm & Horticultural Program
The Mission
The goals of the Urban Farms are to teach clients about the benefits of eating
vegetables and fruit, provide free and easy access to vegetables in order to increase
their intake in order to improve their health; to reduce reliance on food banks and
other food resources, and to teach them about good nutrition. The farms also
provide our clients with work training opportunities in horticulture and paid jobs.
Support
The Bridge Horticulture Program, in collaboration with The Horticultural Society of
NY, began on the garden roof deck of the Manhattan headquarters of The Bridge,
with support from Burpee Foundation, and has expanded to include 2 urban farms,
one in the Bronx and one in East Harlem. The Urban Farm Program has grown
dramatically as it impacts several neighborhoods throughout the city. The Bridge
Horticulture Program was recently awarded a generous $25,000 grant from George
Ball, Chairman of the Board of the Burpee Foundation.
Client Blog
Our clients maintain a blog of their experiences at MyUrbanFarm.blogspot.com
where they outline their accomplishments on the Urban Farm project. Their
enthusiasm and involvement about the project is evident when reading their blog
entries.
Clients describe the blog: “This is a blog about an urban farm in NYC. What began as
an experiment is now a great success. In 1 year we have gone from growing 5 varieties
of vegetables to almost 30 today. This is a record of our experiences on the farm.”
For More Information Please Contact:
Ann R. Hyatt - Director of Development I t: 212.663.3000 x379 e: ahyatt@thebridgeny.org
248 West 108th Street, New York, NY 1002 www.thebridgeny.org

2. Success Stories
“After achieving success gardening in my first year in the Horticulture Program, this
stipend job became a paid job with an hourly wage. So I became a Bridge employee.
While gardening I was encouraged to take a class at The New York Botanical Garden
(NYBG) in the Bronx, NY, where I was certified as a Master Composter. I continue to
volunteer at the NYBG from time to time and have accumulated approximately 60 hours
of volunteer service... I continue to grow as a man and my time at The Bridge helped me
to better my life. Thank God.” – Stacey Joel Van Rossum