Wylde Center Inc

More than 27 years ago, two incredible women recognized the need for the community to connect to nature and learn about the environment. They probably never imagined what the Oakhurst Community Garden Project would one day become.

As we head into the 28th year of this impactful organization, Wylde Center looks a little different: the name, the logo, the number of gardens, and of course that special building at the original Oakhurst Garden.

However, the root of who we are is still the same. We are a passionate group that cares deeply about conservation, gorgeous urban greenspaces, and providing opportunities to teach others about how they can contribute to essential sustainability practices.

2024 Highlights
80,000 plants grown in our nursery to help support schools and other organizations combat food insecurities.

25,000 visitors to our 5 gardens (and our Oakhurst Garden was under construction for most of the year!)

19,000 student interactions in schools

4300 volunteer hours

500 square feet of free growing space for community members

Wylde Greenspaces make accessible the typically inaccessible in an urban environment. Fifty percent of field trips are from Title I schools in metro Atlanta, meaning the deeper we invest in our greenspaces, the more diverse a population of youth we will be able to serve. During a normal school year, more than 3,000 students attend a field trip at one of Wylde Center’s five gardens. Participants come from both surrounding communities and statewide.

Our Legacy - Wylde Center was founded in 1997 out of a need to provide opportunities to experience nature in an urban environment. In 1996, Sally Wylde and Louise Jackson, both residents of Decatur’s Oakhurst neighborhood, had a life changing conversation. Neither of them had any idea that one little nuisance would transform their community. What they knew was that every afternoon, children leaving the nearby elementary school cut through Louise’s yard and trampled her beloved garden. A single decision, however, made all the difference. Instead of involving the police, Sally and Louise partnered with a group of neighbors to invite the children to become caretakers of the garden. What started as a backyard project to help neighborhood children engage with nature and gardening, grew into a movement that now provides underserved metro Atlanta youth an opportunity to experience hands-on environmental education. Today Wylde Center serves and enhances quality of life for the wider metro Atlanta community with programs that focus on environmental and health education and food equity, and by preserving 7 acres of urban greenspace for community use