Utopian Hospitality Environmental Resource Centers (ERC)

While our city is lost in the grips of a crime crisis, we continue to lose the fight for social justice and the battle against climate change. Central City; the neighborhood historically known as the birthplace of New Orleans' Civil Rights Movement currently hosts one of the city's smallest tree canopies and highest crime rates. While the neighborhood is slowly experiencing infrastructure development, it remains a food desert and urban heat island due to intensified gentrification with little regard for long-time residents, our geography, and climate change.

The Institute of Utopian Hospitality is hoping to secure three abandoned lots in Central City, converting them into valuable green infrastructure and community "safe spaces" that foster urban regenerative living practices. We currently support Ms. Keekeigh's Indigenous Garden in Central City, which donates produce to neighborhood Community Free Fridges nearby, donates seeds/crops to New Orleans area residents and produces a TikTok channel. Showing up to do the work, we also tend to public greenspaces nearby and volunteer as extra hands at community "greening" events and spaces throughout the city.

The garden on Simon Bolivar Avenue began four years ago as a blighted lot used to store cargo and unsavory activities. In the years since it has become valuable greenspace that diverts thousands of gallons of rainwater during heavy rain events. Considering that in years prior rain events turned the block into a pond, this was no small feat. A few of the natural interventions used to create this green infrastructure resource were wood chips, pea gravel, and trees. By creating an organic bioswale, we provide the water a place to go. With the wood chips we both remediate and regenerate soil while raising the surface level. By planting trees we sequester carbon and provide tree canopy. We are raising funds to pay taxes and quiet title on this site and an additional two, three total, in order to create much needed permanently embedded greenspaces. Creating summertime guerilla gardens in the adjacent vacant lots, not only provides food and melons for the neighborhood, it also creates pathways to teach about sustainable farming and further build community.

Securing the land we operate on, as well as the additional three lots would allow us to expand our mission. All within ten minutes of each other, the lots are in areas that are neglected in regards to regenerative greenspace, grocery stores, and treescapes. Our goal is to create sacred safe spaces in regenerative greenspace, build free food pantries and provide plants and knowledge to residents of New Orleans.