The Newport News Green Foundation (NNGF) acquired a ~5-acre parcel of land in the Southeast Community. The property is located at 1901 Chestnut Ave and is located across the street from Discovery STEM Academy, a public charter school serving students from kindergarten to fifth grade in the Newport News City Public Schools Division. The Property and Resource Committees of the Newport News Green Foundation have committed to developing this property into the peninsula’s very first food forest. Donated by the Sarfan Family, the space will be called the Mayer and Dorene Sarfan Food Forest and is intended to address food scarcity in the area as well as promote the environmental benefits of productive green space.

The Community Design Assistance Center worked with a Stakeholders Committee from the Newport News Green Foundation, teachers from Discovery STEM Academy, and community members to develop a conceptual site master plan for the Mayer and Dorene Sarfan Food Forest. The conceptual site master plan will serve as a first step in creating a vision for the property.