DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — The city of Decatur is moving forward with a million-dollar state grant to address violence in the city. Half of the money will fund an experimental program in the Old Kings Orchard (OKO) neighborhood. The city will also provide CDGB funds, in an effort to revitalize the area.
"Increasing access to fresh local produce for everyone, we've done that through our Mercy Market downtown, we're going to continue to do that," Nicky Besser, the Executive Director of Good Samaritan Inn, told WAND News.
The Good Samaritan Inn is taking their local Mercy Gardens to a new level, taking over an entire city block in the OKO neighborhood.
"We intend to be intentional with the kind of crops that we are growing and the expansion that we do. Growing crops 52 weeks a year is really hard to do in central Illinois, we're not California or Mexico. But there are things we can do to increase the amount of money we can make during the high distribution month," Besser explained.
The nonprofit will work with the city to tear down existing homes, that the city purchased, and begin remediation.
"We want to make sure the soil is not only safe for the produce, but safe for the people that are working on it. So that takes a little bit longer to make sure that we're pulling out any of those chemicals that were in dryers or cars that were on the property previously," Besser said.
Just down the road, the OKO Community Center will launch smaller-scale urban gardens, with a focus on hiring teens in the justice system.
"We want them to learn accountability and responsibility. Going through this program, teaching them how to get along with each other, and just have a better outlook of what life could be like on the other side," Devon Joyner, the Executive Director of the OKO Community Center, told WAND News.
Kids will be paid to work the gardens and offer discount law services, learning life skills along the way.
"We're going to help keep it clean, picked up. We're going to do some agricultural things inside. People who are challenged with keep their yards up, we're going to help them for free," Joyner explained.
The OKO project will also include funding for a sports field in the lot just south of the OKO Community Center. OKO Sport will eventually provide free and discounted programs for students in the area.
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