Knowing our neighbors and making personal connections is vital to vibrant and safe communities. The Hi Neighbor program introduced by Mayor Tom Tait in January of 2011 is based upon the fundamental principle of neighbors helping neighbors and the campaign encourages Anaheim residents to connect with their neighbors Knowing our neighbors has been a longstanding tradition in Anaheim and this year in partnership with Council Member Eastman the City is working on bringing neighbors together with the Hi Neighbor Community Gardens.

The new community garden initiative aims to build upon the tenets of the Mayor’s Hi Neighbor program; namely building neighborhood connections. The Hi Neighbor Community Gardens initiative is a 6-month pilot project designed to create temporary community gardens in vacant and unused spaces throughout Anaheim into temporary community gardens that pulls together hundreds of families and strengthens neighborhood relationships. At the end of the pilot program, our goal is to have created a community garden in each of the four neighborhood districts.

Neighbors are gathering, first in groups of twos and threes, and then in bigger and bigger groups each coming week to help plan, build, and organize these gardens. Businesses and non-profit organizations are jumping in to be a part of this community-wide movement.

We invite you to be a part of these gardens too.