TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A community garden is now up and running at Esperanza, an organization that provides transitional and permanent housing for homeless veterans.
When KGUN 9 first came to check out the garden at Esperanza in September 2025, it was just getting started. There was nothing there except dirt and poles that weren't even up yet. Now, food is growing and thriving.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Planting hope: Community garden for veterans in the works
Veterans and their families living on Esperanza's campus can enjoy the fruit of their labor, with vegetables, fruit, and herbs already sprouting throughout the garden.
Navy veteran Thomas Manners said the garden will be a good place for veterans to get things off their mind.
"A distraction from the day to day. You know, it can be pretty monotonous waiting for the paperwork and stuff to get to you, so it's worthwhile. It's worth the wait," Manners said.
Getting the garden rebuilt was a challenge, but Suzanne Bond, Esperanza's CEO, says she couldn't do it alone.
"All of these plants are donated plants from community members, which we appreciate so much. We all got started through a referral from the VFW, they got a group together from University of Arizona to create all of this," Bond said.
She says for the veterans to make their own meals with their own food is something special.
"One of the things is that when you're homeless you don't get spice. You go to a food pantry and they make it as bland as possible so everyone can eat it and now we have all these herbs that the veterans can pluck for their meals. We have peppers and tomatoes, eggplant, everything that they'll need to make a wonderful healthy meal," Bond said.
Army veteran Michael Eugene Magazine is one of the veterans on the garden committee, bringing his farming experience to the table.
"I was out planting the fields and like, you know, picking corn and cutting wheat. I'll cut wheat around here, a custom harvester," Magazine said.
Bond said there are still a few touches needed to make it a great space to gather and spend time.
"We're gonna have hammocks for the veterans at their suggestion. We're gonna have nice La-Z-Boy chairs, outdoor chairs," Bond said.
A kids garden and plots for long-term residents are also in the works.
"The next step is going to be that they're going to be harvesting water from our roofs, and the final step will be adding some shade structures that are actually solar structures to this garden. It's the Engineers Without Borders at University of Arizona that are making this happen for us," Bond explained.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
——
Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
----
STAY IN TOUCH WITH US ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
