Growing Hope

Growing Hope is a cross-disciplinary project in process dedicated to bringing community gardens to prisons with a goal of supporting the people who live there to nurture the garden.

The project began as a pilot in spring 2024 when SDSU graduate student Juana Eslava-Bejarano collaborated with Prison Arts Collective, and the California Institution for Women, a California state prison for women, to design and build a small community garden with participants at the prison. The participants and staff at the institution were overwhelmingly supportive of the project, resulting in a small community garden on site.

“I believe that having access to natural spaces must be considered a basic right. Gardening can be a healing art, as it welcomes creativity while encouraging the strength of a community. 

By promoting the creation of community gardens in prisons, we are providing a safe space for caring and healing from the wounds of incarceration.” 

- Juana Eslava-Bejarano

Growing Hope began in 2021 when IAHSJ Director Annie Buckley gathered an interdisciplinary team of faculty at SDSU from SDSU, including faculty from Chemistry, Geography, Nutritional Science, and Art, to brainstorm how to create gardens in prisons. The team included experts in building and maintaining community gardens, nutrition education, and prison programming.

The project aims to co-create community gardens for and with incarcerated communities to support health and wellbeing, provide knowledge of gardening and nutrition, and cultivate community. Participants gain knowledge and experience in building and maintaining a garden, soil preparation, and gain a positive rehabilitative experience of collaborating with peers and community members on a shared project that results in a growing and living garden.