Growing Community

Spring 2019 Edition
Alumni & Friends Magazine

Growing Community

For some, a lawn is just a lawn. For Cindy Code, it’s so much more.

Cat Hofacker, BSJ ’18 | June 8, 2019

Code is the executive director of , a nonprofit based in Cleveland, Ohio, that works with communities nationwide to create, restore, and revitalize green spaces. Why all the fuss over a stretch of grass? Code suggests we look at green spaces this way: If a city’s buildings and infrastructure are its bones, then green spaces are the lungs. “They help the city and the people breathe,” she suggests.

“If you have the lawn and the landscape and kids are playing and dogs are out there, it brings the neighborhood together,” she says. “So it really provides that hub that a neighborhood or a community needs to engage with each other.”

Cindy Code standing in a field — Cindy Code [ABOVE] has helped to renovate or restore more than 47 million square feet of green space. Photo by Dustin Franz, BSVC ’10

Project EverGreen has renovated more than 47 million square feet of green space. Each project is unique, reflecting the needs of each community, Code says. In Phoenix, Arizona, the renovation of a neglected playground gave children a safe place to be active. In Detroit, Michigan, the restoration of an 18-acre park gave residents renewed pride in their neighborhood.

“It goes beyond all those professional mechanics of the landscape industry,” says Code, BSJ ’85. “It’s really the social and lifestyle network that we try to achieve” with creating intentional green spaces.

Project EverGreen has evolved since its founding in 2003. The original mission centered around raising awareness about the benefits of green spaces. Some are physical, like providing oxygen and a cooling effect in urban areas that typically have a lot of concrete. But when it came to conveying the social benefits, the nonprofit soon realized, “it takes more than just billboards and bus signs and news releases to really tell the story,” Code says.

Project EverGreen staffers and volunteers work side by side with community members. Code offers the advantages to green space and how it changes the dynamic of the community. Residents then share what they learn with neighbors, kids, and church groups.“People want to make a difference in their communities, but they don’t know how or they don’t think they can do it alone. Project EverGreen is the umbrella organization that brings people together.”

Even though it has more than 50 community projects nationwide under its belt, Project EverGreen is just getting started, Code says.

“There’s so many organizations, corporations that want to give back to their community,” Code says, “so I think the sky’s the limit as far as what we can do with just the right amount of resources and the right amount of engagement.”

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