Canaan Farms Community Garden at Salem Bible Church. Photo by Caleb Jones.
Community gardens transform how people eat and live together by connecting people with where their food comes from. Gardens are places where neighbors grow food for themselves and others, share knowledge about healthy food and lifestyles, heal and enrich urban ecosystems, and strengthen their sense of pride in their communities. Sustaining these important spaces requires time, sweat, cooperation, coordination, and resources.
Since 2015, FWA has directly invested $962,000 in community gardens through annual Community Garden Grants. These grants help community gardens address infrastructure, supply, and material needs to keep them thriving. This year, Food Well will distribute $132,500 in direct funding to community gardens across our five-county service area. There are two categories of funding support that community gardens can apply to be considered for:
Garden Improvement Grant ($1,500) – Supports smaller infrastructure projects, extra compost, seedlings, tools, or other garden supplies. Food Well aims to award this grant to 75 community gardens.
Garden Forward Grant ($10,000) – Helps two established, active community gardens take on larger projects that will help their garden thrive.
You may apply for both opportunities through the same grant application. If selected, your garden will receive one.
Gardens cannot use grant funds to pay garden managers or staff for regular maintenance. However, community gardens can combine their grant with Food Well’s Special Project Labor Support stipend to complete a project. The application for this resource is SEPARATE from the Community Garden Grants application and can be found here.
Application Deadline: Sunday, November 22, 2026 at 11: 59 PM
Important Information
Who Can Apply?
Existing community gardens located in our five-county service area.
How to Apply?
Applications must be submitted through our online grant system.
Application Timeline
We’ll announce grants to community gardens on February 1.
FAQs
Have a question we didn’t answer? Check our frequently asked questions.
Want to learn more about the 2027 Community Garden Grants?
Join Grants & Resources Manager Kalia Hamil for the Q&A Webinar on November 11 at 11 am. We’ll cover everything you need to know about applying.
Application Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility Criteria:
Existing community gardens located in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties.
Eligible community gardens will be one of the following:
Operated by a group of neighbors or community members
Registered as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization or operated by a tax-exempt nonprofit organization
Affiliated with or operated by a public agency or institution
Previous garden grant recipients are eligible to apply.
What is an ‘Existing’ Community Garden? Existing Community Gardens meet at least two of the following:
Has on-site community garden infrastructure (garden beds, signage, compost bins, water catchment/irrigation, or storage shed.
Has a current, documented agreement to operate a community garden at the garden’s location.
Has actively engaged their surrounding community and has at least 5 individual household members committed to participate in the garden
Previous garden grant recipients are eligible to apply.
We currently do not fund school gardens.
Strong Applications Include:
Information to help us get to know your community garden.
What is the garden’s role in your neighborhood or community?
What challenges is your community garden currently facing?
Be clear and realistic about how the garden will use the grant, including how the project will address current needs.
A simple, clear project budget.
Grants can include materials such as lumber for gardening beds, tools, storage, compost and soil, seeds, compost bins, signage, water catchment and irrigation systems, etc.
Grant funds are NOT for program-related expenses, salaries, stipends, or expenses not related to growing food. Gardens can use grant funds to pay a contractor for project-related construction or implementation.
Additional funding is also available to pay a contractor through our Special Projects Labor Support stipend. This is a separate application, available here.
To receive the Garden Forward Grant, the recipient must organize and host a workshop during 2027 on a topic of their choosing for metro Atlanta community gardeners.
2027 Community Garden Grants Timeline
Applications will be accepted from October 12, 2026 - November 22, 2026, and funds will be granted on February 1, 2027, before the growing season. Community gardeners will know their application status at the beginning of the year so that they can plan and implement projects in time for spring planting.
Engaging an External Review Committee: To increase transparency around our garden grant process and provide networking and leadership opportunities for our community garden leaders, we formed an External Review Committee of community garden leaders to help us with the decision-making process.
If you have any questions regarding the changes to the Community Garden Grants application process, please visit our FAQs page for more information or direct your questions to Kalia Hamil at kalia@foodwellalliance.org.
How to Apply?
First Time Applying?
That’s great! We’re so glad you’ve decided to apply for the Community Garden Grant.
All applications must be submitted through our online grant management system. Click here to learn about how to create your account.
To start an online grant application, you must register in the online grant system with a Tax ID Number. If your garden does not have one, enter 00-0000000 to get started.
Important Note About Fiscal Sponsors
If your garden is not a registered organization and is not operated by one, you will need a fiscal sponsor to apply for a Community Garden Grant.
A fiscal sponsor is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, church or public institution that agrees to receive grant funds on your garden’s behalf. This could be an organization you already partner with or one that supports your garden.
In the online grant application, there is a Fiscal Sponsor Agreement form that you will need to complete with your fiscal sponsor and submit with your application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have questions about we didn't answer? Email Grants & Resources Manager, Kalia Hamil, at kalia@foodwellalliance.org.
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Community Garden Grants are for community gardens located in Clayton, Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb, or Gwinnett counties in metro Atlanta.
A community garden must consist of five or more individual households that collectively and consistently garden an area through individual or shared plots where they cultivate vegetables, fruit, or other plants. While the community garden may cultivate non-food-producing plants, offer garden-based therapeutic services, host events, or engage its members or surrounding community in a variety of ways, the garden's primary focus should be growing food in a communal setting.
Sorry, this opportunity is not for school gardens. We love school gardens, but because so many dedicated resources exist specifically for school gardens, this opportunity is for community gardens only.
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Food Well Alliance offers two grant opportunities for community gardens: a $1,500 fund opportunity (the Garden Improvement Grant) and a $10,000 funding opportunity (the Garden Forward Grant).
These grants can fund garden infrastructure projects or the purchase of gardening supplies and materials. Common uses for the grant include:
Replacing or adding raised beds
Building tool sheds or other garden storage
Fencing
Irrigation/water catchment systems or supplies
Signage
Garden gathering spaces, like benches or shade structures
Tools
Soil and compost
Other planting materials.
Grant funds are NOT for program-related expenses, salaries, stipends, or expenses not related to growing food. Additional funding is available to pay a contractor for project-related construction or implementation through our Labor Support Program. This is a separate application, available here.
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It’s okay if your community garden doesn't have a Tax ID! Many do not, and you are still 100% eligible to apply! Enter zeroes (‘00-0000000’) when the system asks you for the Tax ID number on the registration page.
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A fiscal sponsor is an organization that receives grant funds on a community garden’s behalf if the garden is awarded the grant. If your community garden, or the organization that runs it, can receive funds on its own, you don't need a fiscal sponsor. If your community garden is operated by a group of neighbors that are not a registered entity (which is ok!), then you will need to indicate a fiscal sponsor.
If awarded the grant, Food Well cannot write a grant check to an individual garden member. Therefore, a fiscal sponsor will serve to receive the funds on the applicant’s behalf. The fiscal sponsor could be an organization or institution that already works with your garden or is in your neighborhood. Examples include community nonprofit organizations; a local church; a government office where your community garden is; or your county UGA Extension office.
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Community gardens can apply for a $1,500 Community Garden Improvement Grant or a $10,000 Garden Forward Grant. The Garden Forward Grant is a new opportunity that awards $10,000 to two community gardens to complete a larger garden improvement project. Grant funds for these opportunities are NOT for program-related expenses, salaries, stipends, or expenses not related to growing food. Additional funding is available to pay a contractor for project-related construction or implementation through our Labor Support Program. This is a separate application, available here.
A garden can apply for both opportunities but will be awarded only one category of support. That means if you want to apply for the larger Garden Forward Grant, your garden can also apply for the smaller Community Garden Improvement Grant at the same time. That way, your garden could still be considered to receive the $1,500 grant even if you are not awarded the larger $10,000 grant. Garden Forward Grant applicants will need to communicate within their application their capacity to manage and implement the larger grant project.
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Yes! To make compost delivery easier and more timely, we're moving it out of the Community Garden Grants process. Instead, we will use a simple form to request compost for your community garden. Visit our Community Garden Resource page for information on our timeline for compost delivery requests.
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The Three-Bin ‘Compost Knox’ compost systems that Food Well has built at gardens since 2019 offer a contained, effective, and organized place for community gardens to compost and build healthy soil. After building these bins at nearly 20 community gardens across metro Atlanta, we paused new builds to check in with past recipients, see how the bins are serving their gardens and communities, and learn how this garden infrastructure is being used to build healthy soil.
While Food Well will not be building the bins this year, a community garden is welcome to apply for and use the grant to build compost bins or acquire other compost infrastructure for their garden.
