DULUTH, Minn. — A community gardening project involving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has earned a $4,000 national prize to help make pathways more accessible at Harrison Community Garden.
The Administration for Community Living, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, selected the project among 70 first-phase winners in its Cultivating Connected Communities Prize Challenge.
The federal agency lists the Duluth winning team as Harrison Community Garden, Udac and Duluth Community Garden Program.
People participating through Udac have been working in the garden to help address food insecurity through food donations, according to the organization. Through that work, participants identified a need for more accessible pathways. The prize money will help support those improvements.
The effort brings together Udac, CHUM, and Duluth Community Garden Program. Udac said the award recognizes participants’ contributions to the community and the value of meaningful involvement through partnerships.
The national competition supports existing community gardens seeking to improve accessibility, access to fresh food and social connections for people with disabilities and older adults.
Each winning team submitted an accessibility improvement plan addressing participation by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, people with paralysis and other physical disabilities, and older adults. Potential improvements include accessible garden features, adaptive tools and inclusive programming.
All 70 first-phase winners will receive $4,000 and advance to the competition’s second phase, when teams will put their plans into action.
Second-phase reports are due May 26, 2027, with winners scheduled to be announced in June.
