OFFICE OF NEIGHBORHOODS AND FAMILIES RECEIVES $5,000 GRANT FROM HARVARD PILGRIM
HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION TO FUND SPRUCE STREET COMMUNITY GARDEN
Manchester, CT—The Town of Manchester’s Office of Neighborhoods and Families has received a
$5,000 grant from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation’s Healthy Food Fund to support the growth
of the Spruce Street Community Garden.
The Harvard Pilgrim Foundation grant will fund the hiring of a community garden coordinator to
implement educational programming and provide general oversight for garden maintenance and
promotion. In addition, the funds will be used to purchase water barrels and a shed for storing tools and
supplies.
“We believe Spruce Street Community Garden is a real asset to the East Side,” said Christopher Silver,
director of the Office of Neighborhoods and Families. “We are grateful to the Harvard Pilgrim
Foundation for their support of this neighborhood space for growing both food and community.”
The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation seeks to improve the quality and value of health care for
the people and communities they serve by providing the tools, training and leadership to build healthy
communities throughout Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The Foundation’s
Healthy Food Fund is a grant and leadership initiative to make fresh and, as often as possible, local food
easily accessible and affordable for more low- and middle-income families in our region.
After a successful pilot last year, the Spruce Street Community Garden officially launched in 2015
through a partnership between the Office of Neighborhoods and Families, Manchester Area
Sustainability Cooperative, Bettylou’s Gardening and LifeSong Church. The garden brings fresh food and
welcoming green space to Manchester’s East Side while responding to the neighborhood’s need for
access to low cost healthy food and health & wellness activities.
The Office of Neighborhoods and Families is a Town of Manchester department housed in the East Side
Neighborhood Resource Center. Charged with responding to the directives of the community-developed
Children, Youth and Family Master Plan, its mission is to better serve the needs of Manchester youth,
families and neighbors by coordinating communication among policymakers, service providers, and the
public, and developing programs and services in response to community needs. For more information,
visit naf.townofmanchester.org.