Urban Agriculture Ambassador Program

This GrowBoston program provides one-on-one (1:1) gardening education and support for gardeners in East Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury through 2025 and 2026.

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The City of Boston is providing funding for four part-time gardening educators, one employed at each of four different urban farming non-profits. These educators will serve as each neighborhood's Urban Agriculture Ambassador (UAA) in order to provide gardeners — even experienced ones — with the support, knowledge, and skills they need in order to grow their own food and grow it sustainably.

Have questions? Contact:

GrowBoston
617-635-3880
GrowBoston@boston.gov
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108

How to Connect With a UAA Near You!

If you are interested in receiving one-on-one gardening support and connecting with your Urban Agriculture Ambassador, please contact the organization based in your neighborhood:

Lashemia McAllister, Urban Ag Ambassador

Dorchester:

The Food Project, Lasheima (Memia) McAllister, lmcallister@thefoodproject.org, (617) 442-1322

East Boston:

Eastie Farm, Dan Schenk,

daniel @eastiefarm.com, (617) 419-0787

A picture of a person standing in a garden with a tan shirt on and a hat on. They are smiling at the camera.

Mattapan:

Urban Farming Institute, Melanie (Mel) Floyd,

Melanie.Floyd@urbanfarminginstitute.org, (617) 989-9920

Roxbury:

Haley House, Meaka Brown

mbrown@haleyhouse.org, 617 394-8832

Program History and Goals

In 2023, GrowBoston launched the Raised Bed Program using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Through this program, GrowBoston began the construction of 800 raised beds for low-income households and public facilities. This program also provided a handful of gardening workshops.

In July 2024, the Urban Agriculture Recommendations Report included a recommendation for an ambassador program (see page 51, recommendation 4g.5). We brought the program to life in East Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan. Through a grant application and selection process, GrowBoston chose four organizations to carry out the program: Eastie Farm (East Boston), The Food Project (Dorchester), Haley House (Roxbury), and the Urban Farming Institute (Mattapan).

The goal of this program is to improve residents’ capacity to participate in urban agriculture activities, including gardening at homes and in the community.

Program Participants

The primary audience for this program include raised bed recipients and public facilities. However, the education support services provided in this grant are not solely for individuals who have received raised beds through the City. Organizations are encouraged to conduct outreach in order to provide support more broadly for gardeners (at home and community gardens) in their neighborhood.