Milwaukee community garden looks to fight hunger, revive history

Neighbors are breaking ground this summer on a Milwaukee community garden that organizers said aims to address the area’s growing food scarcity.

Public News Service

July 14, 2026

The AARP Community Challenge grant program provides funds for small-scale projects, like revitalizing a Midtown parking lot into a Milwaukee community garden, creating lasting impact. (Haynie Smith/Midtown Neighborhood Alliance)

By Judith Ruiz-Branch

One neighborhood is breaking ground this summer on a Milwaukee community garden that organizers said aims to address the area’s growing food scarcity. It also pays homage to the state’s forgotten history.

Last year’s shuttering of several Pick ’n Save grocery stores in Milwaukee left area residents with no access to fresh food.

Haynie Smith, founder and project manager of the Midtown Neighborhood Alliance, said the more recent closure of a local Walgreens makes the situation worse. Smith explained the Misericordia Community Garden in Midtown will serve as a proactive response to healthy food barriers while building relationships between residents of all ages.

“The most important thing about this is building community and also growing food in our neighborhood and having a place where you can have some sense of ownership in our neighborhood,” Smith emphasized.

A Milwaukee community garden behind a residential area — The AARP Community Challenge grant program provides funds for small-scale projects, like revitalizing a Midtown parking lot into a Milwaukee community garden, creating lasting impact. (Haynie Smith/Midtown Neighborhood Alliance)

The alliance received $15,000 from AARP Wisconsin’s Community Challenge grant program to revitalize an abandoned parking lot near Lynden Hill. It hopes the garden is completed by year’s end. Smith pointed out the funds also preserve local history, as the site was once the parking lot of Wisconsin’s first licensed Black-owned and operated hospital.

AARP awarded nearly $200,000 to fund 16 quick-action projects across the state to improve livability for residents. Smith noted since receiving the grant, there’s been increased interest from potential partners looking to ensure the garden is a success. Similar past efforts for the space have failed. Smith stressed the importance of making sure the garden is ADA-accessible to promote inclusivity.

“We have a lot of hidden history in our neighborhood, and we just unveiled one of them and this is a sense of having neighborhood pride, building the garden and being the stewards of the garden,” Smith underscored.

Lynden Hill recently received a historical marker from the Wisconsin Historical Society to commemorate the legacy of healthcare, community leadership and neighborhood advocacy. Reflecting on longstanding work to protect the site, Smith added the initiative feels a lot like bringing the community back home to its roots.