Community Outreach

The Horticultural Society of New York's community outreach programs deliver a variety of services to underserved neighborhoods in New York City. Behind each program is the powerful message that together people have the power to change the world in which we live. Our goals are to encourage respect and care for the physical and natural environments, and enhance the civic, spiritual and community life of the City's neighborhoods.

HSNY focuses on communities that are most in need: poverty-stricken neighborhoods, disadvantaged inner-city schools, and the vast penal system. We offer programs in the public schools that excite students about science, reading and math; work on Rikers with inmates to provide opportunities for them to become valued and contributing members of their communities upon release; and create beautiful and safe green spaces around public branch libraries, transforming blighted areas into community centers where residents can learn, plant, read, paint and reflect.

These programs are made possible through the generous help of our supporters, which include Abeles Foundation, Achelis & Bodman Foundations, Barth Foundation, Burpee, C.A.L. Foundation, Epstein Philanthropies, Herman Goldman Foundation, Lillian Goldman Foundation, Sol Goldman Charitable Trust, Hagedorn Fund, Penates Foundation, Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation, Prospect Hill Foundation, and Starr Foundation, as well as individual donors.