Cultivating Resilience: How Community Gardens Can Change Our Fate

(Originally posted in the Denver Urban Gardens Newsletter, photo credit: Getty Images)

In the heart of Los Angeles, amidst a sprawling urban landscape, the Los Angeles Community Garden Council (LACGC) fosters connection, growth, and resilience through over 47 community gardens with more than 2,000 members. Like Denver Urban Gardens, LACGC believes in the transformative power of green spaces to bring people together and create resilience in the face of adversity. This mission continues to be vital as wildfires have swept through Southern California, affecting countless lives. Disasters—derived from the Italian word disastro, meaning "ill-fated stars"—have long been seen as forces beyond our control. But what if community gardens could help change our fate?

Community gardens do more than grow food; they cultivate hope and connection in uncertain times. In the wake of the fires, LACGC gardens, none of which were burned down, have remained spaces of refuge where people gather to grieve losses, share resources, and rebuild. The one garden we know that was lost is in Altadena, and LACGC is standing ready to support its community in rebuilding. These gardens remind us that the shared act of nurturing the earth can shift the narrative from one of calamity to one of possibility—turning ill-fated stars into opportunities to create something stronger together.

No change is possible without self-care; and no change matters without caring for others. Community gardens sit at the intersection of these two essential practices. Even comedian Dave Chappelle, in his recent Saturday Night Live monologue, urged empathy for displaced people “from the Palisades to Palestine.” This call to care for one another echoes what happens every day in LACGC gardens: neighbors come together to grow not just food, but work through the beautiful messiness of community and self-governance.

At a time when climate-related disasters seem inevitable, community gardens offer an antidote: a way to reclaim agency, strengthen bonds, and create a more resilient world. Whether it’s regenerating soil, hosting gatherings to support those in need, or rebuilding spaces like the one in Altadena, LACGC gardens show how neighbors can come together to shape a better future. If you’re inspired by this work, join us—volunteer, visit a garden, or donate to our LA Fire Fund to help grow hope and resilience in Los Angeles. Together, we can rewrite the stars.