Keeler Gardens

Keeler Gardens is a nonprofit located on the northwest side of Chicago dedicated to connecting people to nature. Much of its work is directed at the surrounding community in Old Irving Park. The organization’s small site hosts a variety of decorative, native, and edible plants that Keeler uses to illustrate the benefits of connecting with nature.

In the summer of 2018, with the help of students interns and members of the community, Keeler Gardens installed a 1,015 square foot pollinator habitat in its urban parkway. This educational pollinator habitat is directly next to a heavily used sidewalk where it is enjoyed by foot traffic year-round.

During the grant period, the grantee hosted 40 people at a neighborhood pollinator celebration, worked with 7 high school interns, and hosted a girl scout art in the garden program.

What’s next for the project?

Keeler Gardens is connected to four area schools which have brought some students out to the pollinator habitat. In the 2019 growing season, Keeler plans to work more closely with these schools to get even more students out to the site and learning about native plants and pollinators in their urban habitat. Keeler Gardens also continues to work with its neighbors to educate about native plants and pollinator habitat, several of whom are working to establish their own smaller pollinator spaces at their homes.