Imagine walking the streets of Albuquerque all day long, always having to move from place to place to avoid being arrested for loitering. While you are walking, what do you see? Alleyways, broken glass, dumpsters, endless miles of concrete and pavement. 
Imagine you are breathing in the exhaust fumes from a thousand cars and trucks passing along on the freeway as you rest beneath the underpasses. You listen to the constant rumbling, honking horns and screeches of traffic as you try to sleep.
You see the picture I am trying to paint here: the streets are a noisy, dirty and dangerous place. They compromise a person’s mental and physical health and safety.
Here at the AOC we offer our residents a safe, quiet environment to assist them in their goal of transitioning out of homelessness.
One of the great amenities we provide the residents is a beautiful xeriscaped garden. The space here is an oasis of quiet space, growing fruit trees and flowers nodding in the evening summer sun.
The residents use this space to grill food for each oth
er on the BBQ grills, to play some basketball, or just sit quietly away from the noise, pollution and violence of the city streets.
Spring is right around the corner! We are looking for donations of garden supplies to ensure that we are able to maintain our garden spaces and keep them thriving. We need the following materials to make that happen:
Mulch- lots of it!
Landscaping bark chips
Gravel for the walkways
Larger stones for borders
Composting soil
Low water-use trees, flowers, shrubs, etc.
We are also looking for some great volunteers to help us with keeping the gardens healthy and beautiful! This space is truly important to the well-being of our residents.
Please consider helping out with a donation of materials or gift certificate to a local garden or nursery. Call 344-2323×100 or email jessicac@abqaoc.org to find out how you can help!
