Volunteers shoveled up soil at one of two new gardens being added inside a Langley Park, Maryland, neighborhood that officials hope will benefit the local community in multiple ways.
The gardens are one of four new greenspaces being built around the region through a grant by Natural Forward.
(WTOP/Jose Umana)
WTOP/Jose Umana
Volunteers at a Langley Park, Maryland, neighborhood on Friday, Oct. 18, 2025.
(WTOP/Jose Umana)
WTOP/Jose Umana
Volunteers shoveled up soil at one of two new gardens being added inside a Langley Park, Maryland, neighborhood on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
(WTOP/Jose Umana)
WTOP/Jose Umana
Children were allowed to paint on the new log seats while CASA volunteers set up picnic tables.
(WTOP/Jose Umana)
WTOP/Jose Umana
One of the gardens is a rain garden, which collects and absorb rainwater runoff from roofs and driveways to reduce flooding.
(WTOP/Jose Umana)
WTOP/Jose Umana
Volunteers shoveled up soil at one of two new gardens being added inside a Langley Park, Maryland, neighborhood Friday afternoon that officials hope will benefit the local community in multiple ways.
The gardens — located on 15th Avenue outside of the headquarters of immigrant advocacy organization CASA — are one of four new greenspaces being built around the region through a grant by Natural Forward, a local agricultural group. One of the gardens is a rain garden, which collects and absorb rainwater runoff from roofs and driveways to reduce flooding.
Alice Sturm, director of restoration for Natural Forward, told WTOP choosing the CASA headquarters made sense for its place as a community hub sitting in the middle of several garden-style apartments. It also was an ideal location due to the building’s structure, which Sturm called “the perfect place to demonstrate conservation landscaping.”
“There needs to be water that’s being collected from an impermeable surface, like a roof or a driveway, that needs to sink in somewhere,” Sturm said. “So this is a big building, and it has a big roof.”
The grant included $100,000 from the Klingenstein Family Foundation and contributions from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Chesapeake Bay Trust.
It paid for the materials to build a rain garden, purchase native plants to rebuild the organization’s community garden, payment for those who worked on the project, and garden kits for those who live in the area.
Sturm said Natural Forward will also assist in training to members of CASA’s workers’ cooperative, the Workers Co-op Without Borders, who work in landscaping to help maintain both gardens. Swamp Rose Co-Op, a worker-owned cooperative based out of Silver Spring, did the work on the gardens and will assist in the trainings.
Shannon Wilk, director for education for CASA, said the new gardens — specifically the rain garden — will do more than just make the area look beautiful.
“There is an issue in this community right now with drainage,” she said. “We’re seeing drainage that is running off into residents’ basements. We’re seeing drainage that is making it into our sewer system after picking up a lot of pollutants.
Landscapers from Swamp Rose Co-op arrived early Friday morning to start working on the rain garden. Cesar Garzon for the co-op said his team had to use special equipment, including a drill, to dig holes for the shrubs added to the garden.
“We had a little bit of hard time here because the soil was very compacted, and years of mowing and just cutting the lawn just compact the soil in a way,” Garzon said.
In the afternoon, volunteers and neighbors arrived on the secondary garden. Signs were posted in Spanish to let the community know about the new native plants added to the area. Children were allowed to paint on the new log seats while CASA volunteers set up picnic tables.
With the neighborhood lacking greenspaces, Wilk said refurbishing its community garden through the grant will allow many to enjoy the space, just as the neighborhood children enjoy using its mini-soccer fields, basketball court and pool.
“They are extremely social,” Wilk said. “They want a community gathering place where they can be safe and in community with each other.”
Wilk said the success of the two gardens will hopefully encourage other organizations to team up with CASA to clean up other spaces in the Langley Park community, including a nearby playground.
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