When Kelicia Pitts moved here from New Jersey in 2021, she figured it wouldn’t be too hard to find work and housing. Give me two months, she thought to herself, as she rented an Airbnb in Del Cerro. But finding a job that could pay San Diego’s high rents was easier said than done, and after bouncing around, she soon found herself living in her car. So when she moved into temporary housing at the Salvation Army Door of Hope in Linda Vista in 2023, it felt like a “blessing.” She had a private room, plus a large shared kitchen, if only for a short time. Then there was the garden. In addition to its senior center and transitional housing for homeless people and domestic violence survivors, Door of Hope also operates a community garden it opened last April. Pitts, 47, knew she wanted to be a part of it — at the very least to learn to grow her own food before she returned to living in her car, where she lives again now. “It doesn’t matter to me that I can’t cook this food right now, because I’m not going to be homeless forever,” she said. “This (was) a great opportunity to learn how to grow food for free.” Kelicia Pitts washes a butternut squash in the community garden at Salvation Army Door of Hope on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025 in San Diego. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune) The facility’s garden is one of nine in San Diego County that has benefited from state grants distributed through the county’s department of Aging & Independence Services (AIS), with the aim of bringing people of all ages together with programs such as tutoring, volunteering and community gardening. The county agency got about $1.2 million from the state in 2022, which it split between community gardening efforts, meals for vulnerable adults and other intergenerational activities. About half of that went to the intergenerational gardens, to help hire educators, create classroom programming and buy supplies. That money ran out in the fall, so now it’s up to each garden to fund and maintain itself. The county is looking for ways to keep supporting the gardens, but Pitts worries about the future of Door of Hope’s, which got $35,000 in state money before. “This garden is not only something that I have developed a passion for — but I lived here, and it was my place of refuge,” she said. “So I’m also giving back to an organization that stretched out their hand to me.” Over the last 10 months, Pitts has become one of the garden’s primary caretakers. She visits every other day to tend to the flowers, fruits and vegetables growing in six lush beds along a dirt path — butternut squash, kale, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, strawberries and more. She’s even bought some of the plants for it herself. Kelicia Pitts, left, hugs Virginia Hernandez, center, as Patricia Hernandez, right looks on inside the community garden at Salvation Army Door of Hope on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025 in San Diego. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Pitts isn’t alone in her dedication. Interest in gardening rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, and community gardens were already getting more popular before it. Research suggests that gardening can help lower stress and boost community development. According to a database from the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County, there are around 80 community gardens throughout the county. Anyone can create one, though they can be difficult to maintain. Pam Plimpton, the county’s AIS intergenerational coordinator, said that some of the gardens that the county selected for the state funding were previously established gardens that fell into disrepair, so the funding helped “revitalize” them. About 30 local groups applied for state funding, and the county ultimately could provide support to 22 gardens. Only nine got full support to aid in program development and education — bringing in instructors to teach about pest management, irrigation and growing techniques. Those nine were chosen based on location, whether they served underresourced communities and whether they planned to bring young and old people together. The other 13 gardens got more limited support. Inger Huffman sits in the community garden at Salvation Army Door of Hope on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025 in San Diego. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Plimpton hopes the gardens help reduce loneliness and isolation among all generations, an effort that has been a focus for her department, especially since the U.S. surgeon general declared the issue an epidemic in 2023. “Gardens are an ideal place for this kind of connection,” Plimpton said. “Older adults often have gardened in their past … So they love to be able to help teach, and it’s just a win-win for everybody involved.” For Inger Huffman, who lives in Bay Park, volunteering at the Door of Hope garden has been a big help socially and emotionally since her husband died in 2023. Huffman, 72, has made friends through the program and enjoys seeing community members visit the garden. “You see something growing, and it’s life and … serenity,” she said. The gardens vary in size and scope. Some consist of just a few raised beds. Others are more elaborate — among them the Linda Vista Community Garden, which opened last August, is run by the Bayside Community Center and got about $130,000 in state grant money. A bee on a flower at the Linda Vista Community Garden on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024 in San Diego. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) That garden is located near affordable housing for seniors and families — something the community center took into consideration when creating the garden, said Kim Heinle, its executive director. She said the garden tackles several social issues at once, such as affordable housing, food insecurity and senior isolation. The garden features several raised beds — especially helpful for gardeners who use wheelchairs or have limited mobility — and has a total of 17 beds that families can rent for $12 a month. One afternoon in late December, a 12-year-old boy who lives in an apartment next door came by to clean out his family’s bed and prepare it for planting. The garden also offers different programming for youth and seniors. Each Monday afternoon, seniors from the neighborhood work together in the garden. There’s also a garden therapy program for students at Montgomery Middle School. Kim Hanson, wearing a hat, speaks with a community member at the Linda Vista Community Garden on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024 in San Diego. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) But future funding is a mixed bag. Heinle is confident that her community center will be able to keep supporting the Linda Vista garden with grant money. But Megan Dowell, the Salvation Army’s homeless services director, said her group has no current plan to seek more funding for the Door of Hope garden, although it will seek more volunteer support and donations. As for the county, Plimpton says it asked groups that applied for state money about their long-term funding plans to ensure they can maintain their gardens. But it’s also exploring other options for more grants to support them. The county will also continue to provide technical support, including bringing back two garden educators to provide expertise to all gardens on an as-needed basis. For Pitts, the Door of Hope garden has been important not just for the community but for her own well-being. The garden has been a refuge while she’s living in her car and has helped her discover a love of gardening she didn’t know she had. It’s also opened doors. In between working at a flower shop and for Instacart and applying for other jobs, she’s recently been accepted into the San Diego County Master Gardener training program on a full scholarship. She begins classes this month. “It’s really humbling. I’ve been focused on this since April,” she said, crying. “Putting my own money in it to keep things growing, maintaining it, building relationships and wonderful friendships. And then God gave me this kiss — it’s like a big kiss.”