The nonprofit Obodo Collective has accomplished a lot since it was founded just three years ago.
For one, it opened an urban farm in the Historic Westside, Las Vegas’ first African-American community, which has long been underserved in terms of grocery stores, medical facilities and greenspaces, says executive director Tameka Henry.
“Just a little over a year ago, there was nothing out here. Our nonprofit purchased the place, but it was just a deserted lot,” Henry says.
That once-deserted lot now contains 26 garden beds and 26 fruit trees. In a 45-day span this fall, the farm yielded about 500 pounds of food, Henry says.
That makes a difference to the surrounding community, which was especially hard hit by the pandemic. Neighborhoods with grocery stores even struggled to stock certain food items and supplies. The situation was worse in the Historic Westside, which has a food insecurity rate of 19.6% or nearly 1 in 5 residents, compared to Clark County’s rate of 1 in 8 residents.
In addition to the farm, the Obodo Collective provides emergency assistance to help with rent and groceries. The nonprofit also aims to empower families with sustainable solutions. For example, it connects clients with workforce development or financial literacy classes through its community partners.
“What we try to do is identify those long-term solutions and support to move families out of multigenerational poverty,” Henry explains.
The Weekly sat down with Henry to talk about the importance of community spaces, access to healthy food and revitalizing the neighborhood.
The Obodo Collective provides a multifunctional space that can be used for a variety of events, from chef demonstrations to yoga. What’s your intention in providing this space?
Oftentimes, kids come over and they do homework here. They want to be outside. They want to feel safe. And the parks in this area are locked. You can look through the fence and see that there’s basketball courts and play structures and you can’t get in. “Obodo” means “community” [in the language of the Eastern Nigerian Igbo tribe], and we want this space to be here for the community for whatever they need it for.
I feel that we have to bridge the gap in education and community. You have to have projects like this, where there’s learning happening outside of the classroom. And there has to be family and community engagement. I want it to be just this beautiful communal space [where] multigenerational learning is an extension of the classroom.
There’s a beautiful mural of activist Ruby Duncan and a Native American woman in the urban garden. What’s the story behind that?
Three artists came together and created this beautiful piece. I don’t know if you’ve watched the documentary Storming Caesars Palace. Ruby Duncan really fought for welfare rights here.
And it’s always important for us to pay homage to our Indigenous community—our version of a land acknowledgment.
Why is it important to provide fresh produce for people in the community?
This community is oversaturated with food pantries. And sometimes, the quality of the food coming from those pantries is just like, “Whoa, is this what you’re giving to members of our community?”
One of our neighbors is currently battling cancer. She gets chemotherapy while she’s also raising grandchildren and great grandchildren. … She skipped her chemotherapy to go to the food pantry because she needed to have enough food to last them through the week. On this particular day, she was given things that were not edible. That’s not OK.
But this is the reality for so many who rely on food pantries to make it through the week or month. It fuels our work.
City officials talk of revitalizing the Historic Westside. What are your thoughts on that?
Our local government is making those investments. But it’s not instant gratification. Even with the revitalization of Jackson Street and the investment that was put into the infrastructure to get ready for businesses to come in–oftentimes, [community] members don’t understand how they benefit from that investment, because what they see is the streets torn up. When you see projects like that, that millions have gone into, they don’t understand how they benefit right now.
They’ve been living in these conditions for decades. They want to see businesses right now that they can benefit from. We’re in a food desert, where there isn’t access to quality produce. Many of them have transportation barriers. With this [urban farm] project, we said, “Let’s get it up, and let’s do it so they can see that we’re really doing what we say we’re going to do.”
Obodo Collective has accomplished so much in three years. Was there a particular moment where you looked around and thought, OK, we’re successful?
The times when I feel most successful is when kids in this neighborhood visit this space. Or when they come in from school— you can see their bus come in, they drop their backpacks and they run over because they see you here. And they tell you about their day. There’s no other place in the community like this.
Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!
