Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/spaces-of-opportunity-redefining-learning-growth-belonging-and-abundance-in-south-phoenix/5026531/
*Photos can be found in the pdf version of this article.
Close your eyes. Transport yourself to south Phoenix, Arizona, dense with lower income suburban houses and apartments. The rising sun warms your skin as you drive past strip malls, housing developments, and the occasional school, until you come upon something unexpected: 19 acres of formerly-abandoned property transformed into a community space that is changing how adults and children gather, collaborate, garden, learn and, indeed, co-exist.
When you arrive at Spaces of Opportunity on a Saturday morning, it will already be busy with activity. In the farmers’ market, Unlimited Potential team members set out health resources and produce, as several local vendors set up stalls of handmade and homemade goods. Two stands carry fresh produce grown a few steps away, or one mile away at the Orchard Community Learning Center. As the sun shifts in the sky and the temperature climbs, children transition from gardening classes to the Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom, exploring agriculture, irrigation, music, and physics—all in one play-filled space. Some run their muddy boots back and forth between the outdoor classroom and the food forest their parents are helping plant, finding ways to help out, believing there is no job ...