In a city where food and housing insecurity often go hand in hand, Services for the UnderServed (S:US) is planting solutions for both at the same time.

At a supportive housing complex in Bed-Stuy, residents are tending to one of the first urban gardens launched by S:US back in 2011. The garden features edible plants, flowers, and even beehives producing fresh honey, - all maintained by the tenants themselves.

“To be able to garden, get your hands dirty—it’s an amazing resource I hope all of our community has access to,” said Mike Hollis, vice president of food insecurity at S:US.

The initiative has been so successful that S:US plans to include gardens in all future developments. “When you have that foundation of housing security and food security, it gives people the stability to take the next steps in wellness, employment and personal growth,” Hollis said.

The Bed-Stuy building, which offers stabilized rent for individuals with disabilities and serious health conditions, is home to 54 residents. For tenant Yussuf Salam, the garden has been life-changing. “I got into the garden, I went to school—you learn things about yourself,” he said.

But the gardens are just one of over 30 such properties in the borough, with a total of 1,484 housing units. But their latest project is taking root in East New York, where the organization is developing Alafia, one of its largest projects to date.

Alafia is a multiphased, mixed-use development on a 28.5-acre site in the Spring Creek area. Once complete, it will include 2,400 units of affordable and supportive housing, a health clinic, community and commercial spaces, manufacturing facilities and over 11 acres of publicly accessible open space.

Alafia is currently partially opened with 452 affordable housing units for tenants—many of whom are formerly homeless or living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Those behind the project say projects like these are the size and scope they need to tackle our boroughs housing crisis.

“That is such an opportunity for the organization and the borough to expand the work, giving people dignified housing and spaces to grow their own food,” Hollis said.

Just like in Bed-Stuy, any surplus produce from Alafia’s gardens will be donated to local community fridges, ensuring that the benefits extend beyond the housing sites themselves.