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Several years ago, a Norfolk teenager asked Deirdre Love why he didn’t see any grass in his neighborhood.
The teen lived in the Young Terrace public housing complex across from a half-acre gravel lot, which had sat empty for years, said Love, director of the nonprofit Teens With a Purpose headquartered nearby.
The organization aims to prevent violence and empower young people through creative outlets and giving back to their community.
“We sit center to four public housing communities, and gravel and dirt is what surrounds us,” Love said.
They decided to change that, starting with the empty lot on Church Street. It was formerly the site of a lettuce factory.
More than a decade ago, officials drew up plans to build a garden there, but nothing ever materialized.
Love’s group got permission to use the space and started with a few raised beds.
It’s now a bustling community garden called Purpose Park, sporting an array of fruit trees, flowers, vegetables and even a pond with goldfish and lilies.
“It’s really a green oasis,” Love said. “It’s in the middle of a community that is considered blighted, and it’s a bright spot.”
A rotating but loyal group of teenagers turn out each Saturday to tend to the garden. Some live blocks away, while others travel from other Hampton Roads cities.
They’re now working on a rain garden on one side of the space, in partnership with the city and Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Kati Grigsby, Hampton Roads program assistant and restoration specialist for the Bay Foundation, said they approached Teens With a Purpose while looking for ways to build more green, or nature-based, infrastructure in overlooked communities.
Teens With a Purpose’s work to beautify the surrounding community aligns with the Bay Foundation’s goals of improving local water quality and restoring habitat in urban environments, Grigsby said.
The teenagers helped design the 1,200-square-foot garden, which is estimated to help absorb about 33,000 gallons per month of rainwater that would otherwise clog storm drains.
It includes buttonbush, river birch, prickleweed, black needle rush, bald cypress trees, hibiscus and more.
This past Saturday, Grigsby directed about a dozen of the teens how to plant the various species. They raised their shovels and got to work.
Sonnia Jenkins, 15, lives in Chesapeake. She said she enjoys the social aspect of the gig, joking and listening to music with friends while tending to the greenery.
“It’s probably a tedious process, but it’s going to help in the long run to help the plants grow,” Jenkins said.
DaQuan Garnett, meanwhile, wants to pursue a career in gardening after his experience at Purpose Park.
The 17-year-old Booker T. Washington High School student even connected with the Norfolk Botanical Garden for a job this past summer, where he worked in the butterfly house and greenhouse.
Garnett enjoys his Saturdays in the garden. Sunflowers are his favorite, “because I like the way they turn their face to the sun.”
When the group harvests fruits and veggies from the garden, they often walk to homes nearby and offer the food for free.
Chesapeake 15-year-old Gadget Bell said that’s her favorite part — the direct impact they can make in surrounding communities.
“I’ve gotten to be a part of a really big and beneficial thing,” she said. “It’s really nice to be a part of something greater.”
