Jean Carter-Hill was a longtime community activist and co-founder of Imagine Englewood If “save our youth and make Englewood a better place to live.”

The Jean Carter-Hill Community Garden was founded to promote the beautification of the Englewood neighborhood. It provides the residents with a positive green space to build community. Through its Community Garden program, Imagine Englewood if works to further improve the quality of life for those in Greater Englewood by training and equipping participants with gardening knowledge that will not only enhance their understanding of urban agriculture and healthy nutrition, but will also increase their sense of community pride and ownership.

Hill’s original vision was to start one of the first community gardens. In the process of selecting a location, Hill discovered high levels of lead contamination in the soil samples from the first three sites selected. The former director eventually opted for raised-bed planting techniques for the community garden. This also lead to a new campaign to educate the community on the dangers of lead poisoning in children in the Englewood community.