Nestled in Oxon Run Park, The Well at Oxon Run is a new one-acre urban farm and community wellness space planned for D.C.’s Ward 8. The site is intended to serve the community, while also being run by the community.
Residents and local organizations gathered Wednesday to celebrate the “ground opening.” The site will be home to everything from a greenhouse, a seasonal crop production, a pick-your-own flower garden to a community gathering area perfect for theater and dance, a memory forest to honor those lost to gun violence and a large youth garden with an outdoor classroom, which will be run by the nonprofit Green Scheme.
“It’s very inclusive of the community that it was built to serve and that is Ward 8, Bellevue, Congress Heights and Washington Highland,” said Jaren Hill Lockridge, the director of The Well and a community activist. “We all need access to healthy food and we also have a lot of things to smile about and a lot of beauty and that’s the energy that we’re going to have at The Well.”
The idea came to life after Lauren Biel with DC Greens began collaborating with Hill and other community members about a way to make a wellness space for the community possible.
“We know that our role as DC Greens is to be a conduit of resources and to step back and make sure that the community has what it needs to answer the questions on its own,” said Biel.
Jaren said above all, once open, it will serve as a space for everybody. “You’re going to leave a little lighter than you came.”
