FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)— Leaders in Fort Wayne's East Central neighborhood are turning to their community for help after grant funding for a public garden became unavailable in January. According to Sheila Curry-Campbell, the program director of Pilgrims Progress Community Development Corp., th e project received more than $30,000 of grants through the Environmental Protection Agency. The grants were actually going toward workforce development and the more than 20 trees that were proposed to be planted on the empty lot on the corner of Gay St. and Eliza St. "We wanted to be productive and offer jobs for the kids in this area," Curry-Campbell said. Children under the age of 18 have been heavily involved in the planning process for the community garden and will continue to be as the project gets off the ground. Some of the grants would have allowed them to earn a little extra cash while helping create a common space for their neighbors to gather. Curry-Campbell wanted the space to resemble a community garden that was in the neighborhood in which she grew up. "I grew up in the La Rez neighborhood," Curry-Campbell said. "And we always walked through. We picked the rhubarb. We picked the cherries. We picked the peaches, the apples, the pears. And so we want to get this area back to that, where it's a walkable area, and you can do those types of things." She and others behind the idea for this garden said they want it to be a space to unwind in a neighborhood that lacks common spaces. They want fruit-bearing trees, vegetables, walking paths, open spaces and benches. "People in this community [would] have a healthy place that they can come and gather," volunteer Heidi Fuqua said. "They can think. They'll have some food options, some healthy food options in the area." With the lack of help from the federal government that they were anticipating, they said community support is what will help them launch this project. They promoted an Earth Day fundraiser happening at Pilgrim Baptist Church on April 22. They also are calling on people with certain skills. "We need some engineers, some architects, some CAD folks, some folks to design it to help us pivot and redesign this park," Curry-Campbell said. According to Curry-Campbell, the City of Fort Wayne is fully supportive of this project. She said they have been great to work with. ...read more read less