News Release

GOSHEN — Every three years, Goshen Health performs a community health needs assessment to determine what the health priorities are in the community. The data from its recent assessment showed one of the top health priorities is food security.

Stacy Bowers, Goshen Health Community Engagement Manager, announced they have applied for grant through Indiana Department of Health to fund three projects that would improve the health of the community. One of the three projects was the mobile gardens.

Goshen College public health students were instrumental in the implementations of the mobile gardens. The students canvassed around in the service areas that had high SVI scores. Once locations were identified, phase two was conducting interviews.

The interviews were to ensure the community’s interest and engagement in the mobile gardens.

After securing the location, everything needed to develop a garden was provided.

Goshen Health provided all the supplies needed for a successful garden. Along with the supplies, Goshen Health designated a master gardener to each location.

The master gardener is a resource for the community to get help with planting, questions, education and concerns.

One of the mobile gardens is stationed at The Post, 301 East Lincoln Avenue, Goshen. Although The Post is mainly an after school program, it is open two days per week during the summer. The garden at The Post is flourishing with tomatoes, squash, lettuce, herbs, sweet potatoes, watermelon, peppers, cucumbers and carrots.

There is a total of seven mobile garden locations, but Bowers hopes to apply for additional funding in the future to expand to additional sites.