Hi there, thank you so much for your support and dedication to helping preserve the Vera House Community Garden in Normal Heights. There has been an outpouring of community support and media interest in this story, and we are grateful for the petition signatures to allow us to get in touch with our local officials. Some updates:

Almost every major San Diego news outlet has covered the story, including this week's top Local story in the San Diego Union-Tribune. Thank you to the U-T, FOX5, CBS8, NBC7, Univision, and others who continue to tell our story to the public. 

We had initial conversations with Mayor Todd Gloria's office and District 3 Council President Pro Tem Stephen Whitburn about the garden. The overall feedback is that this is a difficult situation for the city to intervene in a private property sale, but they are exploring options to potentially relocate our garden, and our plants/crops to a new location. It looks unlikely that the City will be able to purchase the lot outright to keep it as a garden.

All gardeners were served with an eviction notice by the Normal Heights Community Development Corporation last week, instructing us to remove all personal belongings by July 10. We've had very little direct communication with the NHCDC, which has overseen the lease agreement between the property owner and the gardeners for the past 30 years. We are disappointed with the actions of the NHCDC and their lack of empathy or willingness to help find solutions for the garden.

We were informed by the realtors, The Selby Team (https://selbysellssd.com that an offer has been accepted and can close in the next 14 days. The Selby Team did not provide any proactive solutions or delay the sale to allow us to crowdfund and raise the money ourselves to purchase the garden. Instead, it was listed for sale and within one week was sold to a development group.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

We have created a website to house information and post updates as they become available. Please feel free to sign up for our email updates through the newsletter and check out the additional media coverage we've received so far. www.normalheightscommunitygardens.org

If you know of a charitable organization, philanthropist or other entity that would be interested in purchasing this land as a tax write-off, please put them in touch immediately with the Selby Real Estate Group to explore potential options. 

Please continue to contact your local elected officials to ask for their help in saving precious green space in our San Diego community. Mayor Todd Gloria and CPPT Stephen Whitburn are the best contacts for the Normal Heights community. 

Please share the petition and our story with others - you never know who may be able to lend a helping hand.

Thank you again!

Danielle & The Vera House Community Gardeners