After completing a three-year participatory evaluation process with Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Love Where You Live program (2023-2025), Beth is designing and implementing an 18-month community planning process in Philadelphia’s Nicetown and Tioga neighborhoods. Funded by a grant from the William Penn Foundation, the plan will sustain and expand the greening and climate resiliency program while deepening connections with community organizations and residents.

Beth and co-lead Susannah Laramee Kidd will work with the project team and community ambassadors to map the future of Love Where You Live. Through a series of learning sessions they will create and facilitate, the planning process will focus on sustaining green jobs, enhancing tree stewardship, increasing fresh food access, and supporting neighborhood-led initiatives that continue to build a healthier, greener, and more connected community.

Community-driven planning supports residents to increase green space in their neighborhoods by bringing community members with relevant and direct experience into the process. Public green spaces – such as parks, lots, sidewalks or gardens with grass, trees, or plants – provide many benefits for people in urban neighborhoods, including improved mental and physical health, cleaner air, and reductions in violent crime.