‘Ooxor ‘Aweeshko Garden

Wadena St.

In collaboration with Kounkuey Design Initiative, The City of LA's Adopt-A-Lot pilot program has activated the empty lot that the City owns near the end of the cul-de-sac on Wadena (near Guardia Ave. & Wadena St.). The El Sereno Community Land Trust (ESCLT) has been invited to facilitate this process.

In 2020, ESCLT began working with Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) to “Adopt-A-Lot,” that is, to secure a City of Los Angeles-owned blighted vacant lot and repurpose it to serve as a community benefit. KDI works with local residents to transform unsafe and under-used sites into “Productive Public Spaces."

In 2021, ESCLT secured a subcontract with KDI to manage the site, now Ooxor ‘Aweeshko. Together with the contract, we were granted $5,000.00 in funds to support garden operations. KDI also awarded ESCLT material resources to build gardening boxes, benches, kids' play structures, and tables, which totaled close to $20,000.00. 

This grant is today helping demonstrate the potential of vacant lots to provide thousands of open-space-poor Angelenos with the physical, emotional, and mental benefits of public space. 

Our partnership with KDI is also helping demonstrate to City officials the commitment and capacity of community groups to themselves steward these spaces. 

The program is actively looking for a path for the City to grant community stewards permanent stewardship. The goal of the Adopt-A-Lot pilot is to sow the seeds for permanent systems change in how public assets like vacant land are managed and accessed.

Despite our success in improving the site, the City of Los Angeles has so far refused to facilitate resources such as water or funds to help care for the lot. Community members have themselves been at the forefront of providing the garden with most of its resources, including labor and water.