The Cummer Family Foundation
From seed funding to a sustainable digital ecosystem, a foundational partnership transforms community health.
Every great movement needs a cornerstone believer, and for FunGardens, that has been The Cummer Family Foundation. As our initial seed funder, their early investment did the vital, dirt under-the-nails work: providing the essential capital for seeds, high-quality compost, organizational insurance, and educators' salaries.
Now, that partnership is evolving to scale our impact. The Cummer Family Foundation is generously backing our brand-new "social flywheel enterprise" funding the development of our online digital curriculum hub and launching our initial in-person classes. By supporting both the physical soil and our digital engine, they are helping us build a self-sustaining model that will serve Jacksonville families for generations to come.
From Block Party to Blueprint
Looking back at the block party that proved Jacksonville is hungry for outdoor connection and what’s growing next.
In late 2025, First Coast Urban Ag received a small organization grant from The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. The mission? Take $2,500 and throw a community block party to open up a new way of gathering.
The result was an overwhelming success. The event brought together neighbors, children, and parents who unplugged from their screens to experience the magic of shared outdoor spaces. It proved a vital theory: our city is deeply looking for a "Third Space" a welcoming, vibrant outdoor area outside of home and work where community connection naturally thrives.
University of North Florida (UNF)
Building immersive urban playspaces and studying real-world nature learning in the heart of Jacksonville
For the past two consecutive Fall semesters (2024 and 2025), FunGardens has proudly partnered with the brilliant minds at the University of North Florida’s Early Childhood Development Department. This deep academic collaboration bridges the gap between child development theory and hands-on community impact.
In our first year, UNF students and faculty rolled up their sleeves to help us physically build our immersive outdoor playspace in Jacksonville's Urban Core. They followed that success by designing custom, nature-based learning games tailored to our environment. Looking ahead to our upcoming season, we are expanding this partnership to have UNF co-facilitate our outdoor classes allowing researchers to observe in real-time exactly how children thrive, learn, and grow when the sky is their classroom.
(Link: Read the full feature article in the UNF Newspaper here)
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Avant Construction & HeartSpace Art
A historic-match perimeter fence, a revitalized playhouse, and custom local artistry give FunGardens a beautiful new face.
True community spaces are built by neighbors locking arms, and Ellen Cotrell of Avant Construction took that to heart by dedicating her personal birthday community give-back to FunGardens! The Avant team completely transformed our physical security and aesthetic by tearing down our old chain-link fence and installing a gorgeous perimeter fence designed to match our historic neighborhood's unique charm.
The team didn't stop there they laid durable pavers beneath our community playhouse and gave it a vibrant, fresh coat of paint. To top it all off, local mural artist Daniel Cleary of HeartSpace Art created a stunning, custom facade sign that welcomes every family who steps onto the land.
The Rotary Club, Alexander Academy & Mercedes Benz
Thanks to the Rotary Club, Alexander Academy, and Mercedes Benz, we now feature dedicated reading hubs for both kids and adults.
We believe that nourishing a community means feeding both bodies and minds. Thanks to a beautiful collaboration, our literacy footprint has doubled! Our original Little Free Library was generously donated by Alexander Academy and Mercedes Benz, and was physically installed on-site by our partners at the University of North Florida (UNF).
To expand on this success, The Rotary Club recently came out to install a second, brand-new Little Free Library right next to the playhouse. This allows us to have two dedicated hubs: one specifically tailored for children's books to inspire our young explorers, and one for adult reading material.
Mutual Aid & The Well of Springfield
A community-led food and resource cabinet brings the spirit of true mutual aid to life.
FunGardens thrives on the philosophy that nature belongs to everyone, and so does community care. Through deep, ongoing discussions about neighborhood support with our church home, The Well of Springfield, we successfully launched our on-site Mutual Aid Cabinet.
This beautifully constructed resource cabinet serves as a 24/7 hyper-local hub where neighbors can freely give and take food, household essentials, and resources. It stands as a daily physical reminder of what happens when local faith communities and secular spaces align to ensure no neighbor is left behind.
A second immersive outdoor space is breaking ground this month to bring nature-wisdom to more Jacksonville families.
The vision is officially scaling! We are thrilled to announce that groundbreaking for FunGarden 2 is scheduled for this month. Designed to replicate the community success, safety, and outdoor connection of our original location, this second space will allow us to double our physical footprint in the city.
While we wait on our construction partners to finish up the final site preparations, our phenomenal design renderings give a breathtaking look into the future: a vibrant, historically matched, immersive outdoor learning environment. FunGarden 2 will serve as a brand-new hub for our youth stewardship cohorts, parent-child workshops, and neighborhood gathering. The future of Jacksonville is green, screen-free, and growing!
Partnering for Community Health First Coast Urban Ag was proudly tapped by the Partnership for Child Health to design and execute the foundational curriculum for the Youth Ecological Stewardship Program (YESP) under the Project One Health initiative.
We successfully launched and managed the inaugural 10-week cohort in Springfield, proving that structured, nature-based learning directly combats screen fatigue and fosters deep environmental leadership in Jacksonville's youth. FunGardens is uniquely positioned to scale this curriculum, providing the physical infrastructure and trained hands needed to bring "More Green Less Screen" to families across the First Coast.