2015 Grant Winner Indy Urban Acres Plans Expansion

The Indianapolis Parks Foundation and Indy Urban Acres (IUA) have submitted their final grant report, and there was plenty of good news to share. With the 2015 $100,000 grant, IUA established a two-acre flower farm that provided a new earned income stream for the farm in 2016. Flowers were sold at the Binford Farmers’ Market, for special events (mostly weddings), and at one Kroger store in Carmel. Revenue from the flower farm was invested directly into IUA operations, allowing IUA to harvest 28,247 pounds of organic produce (203,741 servings) and donate it to local food pantries.

And there was a wonderful surprise in their report: IUA is expanding to a second site on the west side in partnership with Eskenazi Health—at the Eskenazi Pecar Health Center! The pharmacy at the Pecar Health Center was the recipient of the first Impact 100 Grant in 2006.

Realizing IUA’s potential to improve the health of food-insecure families, Eskenazi Health asked IUA to expand to their Pecar Center because it is located in a food desert. IUA will grow organic produce that will be donated to the food pantry on site and allocated to specific patients by the physicians at the health center. IUA anticipates that it will produce about 30,000 pounds of food on this site.