Hope Community Center
Hope Community’s mission is “nurturing unity and relationships through food, healing, and education.”
Watershed is working with the Hope Community on the planning and design of a community center, museum, teaching kitchen, teaching farm, and park on a 12-acre site in Fairhope South, a historic African-American community that pre-dates the town of Fairhope.
Fairhope South has a rich and vibrant history, but it is underserved in terms of access to community gathering spaces, parks, and opportunities for physical activity. The plan for the site is a result of years of community surveys, feedback, and planning. Throughout the planning period, Watershed has supported Hope Community in listing the Anna T. Jeanes School building on the National Historic Register, and in negotiating a long-term lease for the building and 12-acre site. To learn more about the fascinating history of the Anna T. Jeanes School and other notable sites in Fairhope South, visit “We Are Here,” a digital learning project developed by Hope Community with University of South Alabama Digital History Labs.
Now that a long term lease has been secured, Hope Community is launching a capital campaign and pursuing multiple grants to fund the build out. While fundraising is underway, Hope Community is building awareness of and support for the project with gardening programs on site, healthy cooking classes, story slam events, community clean up days, and a planned 5K run through the Fairhope South community.
Project type: historic revitalization, new construction
Location: Fairhope, AL
