Mén Beni Gardening

Who We Are

Growing roots,
growing community

Mén Beni Gardening is a Black- and Haitian-led nonprofit organization that supports community well-being through food, gardens, art, and wellness. The name Mén Beni means "blessed hands" in Haitian Creole, reflecting the belief that healing begins with intentional work, using our hands to grow food, create art, and care for one another.

Founded in Miami in 2021 by first-generation Haitians, we began as a grassroots initiative to reconnect individuals and families to the land, traditional practices, and cultural identity. Since then we have grown into a multifaceted organization offering seven interconnected programs serving children, adults, and elders.

We believe that when people are nourished, grounded, and supported, communities are stronger and more resilient. Mén Beni exists to make wellness more accessible, by bringing together food, nature, creativity, and community care.

Founder & Executive Director

Fabienne "Fabi" Polycarpe

Fabienne "Fabi" Polycarpe is a Miami-born environmentalist, community organizer, and creative visionary — and the founder of Mén Beni Gardening, a Black and Haitian led nonprofit dedicated to healing communities through gardening, food access, and cultural wellness.

Raised in Miami's Little Haiti, Fabi's earliest understanding of healing came not from a classroom but from her mother's beauty salon — a space filled with natural remedies, holistic care, and the wisdom of women who knew how to tend to people. That upbringing planted the seeds for a lifelong commitment to sustainability, ancestral knowledge, and the belief that well-being is inseparable from culture.

She went on to earn a master's degree in Environmental Management and Sustainability, bringing academic depth to her lived experience and cultural roots. The combination became the bedrock of everything Mén Beni Gardening would grow into.

Men Beni — meaning "Blessed Hands" in Haitian Creole — is the organization Fabi built to put that vision into action. Under her leadership, the organization operates nine programs organized under three core pillars: Renew, Reconnect, and Reawaken. Through community gardens, educational workshops, communal meals, and wellness gatherings, Men Beni helps individuals reconnect with the land, access nourishing food, and tend to their mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Fabi's approach resists easy categories. She is a gardener, an artist, a hairstylist, and a holistic practitioner — and she brings all of these roles into her work. The result is a grassroots platform that does not simply provide services but creates transformative spaces where marginalized communities can see themselves, their culture, and their ancestors reflected and honored.

Beyond the garden, Fabi is a storyteller and thought leader. She hosts the podcast Conversations in the Garden, where she explores themes of healing, self-love, spirituality, and the lessons nature offers when we are willing to slow down and listen. Through her voice, she invites listeners into a more intentional, connected, and sustainable way of living.

Fabi Polycarpe is a modern environmental advocate who understands that soil and soul are not separate — and that the most revolutionary act a community can take is to return to the land with blessed hands and open hearts.

Renew Pillar

Te Nou — Our Land

Reclaiming our relationship with the earth through collective stewardship and sustainable land practices. Te Nou ("Our Land") is a program that centers the idea that land is not just a resource — it is a living ancestor, a site of memory, and a foundation for sovereignty.

Participants learn sustainable gardening, composting, water conservation, and land stewardship. The program connects community members to shared garden plots and teaches regenerative practices rooted in both Haitian and broader African agricultural traditions.

Renew Pillar

Manje Avec Mwen

"Eat With Me" — Manje Avec Mwen is a communal dining program that uses food as a vehicle for healing, memory, and cultural connection. Meals are prepared using ingredients grown in Men Beni gardens or sourced from Haitian vendors, honoring traditional recipes and the people who preserved them.

Each gathering is an invitation to slow down, share stories, and nourish the body and spirit. Food is understood here as medicine, as memory, and as an act of love.

Renew Pillar · New Program

Racine Retou

"Roots Return" — Racine Retou is a program for the Haitian diaspora to reconnect with their roots. It begins with language — conversational Haitian Creole — and expands into the fundamentals of Haitian identity: food, culture, spirituality, history, and land.

Participants are then connected with farmers in Haiti who are practicing regenerative and industrial farming. The program creates pathways for diaspora members to visit, steward, and invest in Haitian land — building a living bridge between the island and those who were displaced from it.

Racine Retou is about more than heritage tourism. It is about activating a generation of diaspora members as stewards, partners, and investors in Haiti's agricultural future.

Renew Pillar · New Program

The First Supper

Honoring the 222nd anniversary of the Haitian Revolution through the power of food. The First Supper is an annual event and growing program that activates one of the most overlooked dimensions of the revolution: the role of food in liberation.

For this event, Men Beni purchased produce from Haitian vendors at the Swap Shop, saved seeds from the joumou to grow in the garden, and screened the documentary Liberty in Soup by Dudley and the short animation Laky by Amarise.

The goal is for participants to understand how food was not just sustenance during the revolution — it was strategy, resistance, and the first act of a free people. After the revolt, activating the land was the first step. The First Supper continues that activation today.

Reconnect Pillar

Papillon in the Garden

Papillon ("Butterfly") in the Garden is a sacred gathering space where community members come to share stories, build bonds, and find belonging through the garden. Like the butterfly, participants are invited into a space of transformation — arriving as strangers and leaving as community.

Add more detail about this program — what happens at a typical gathering, who it is for, and how to participate.

Reconnect Pillar

Mind-Full Sundays

Mind-Full Sundays are weekly gatherings that center mindfulness, rest, and collective care — grounded in the natural world. In a culture that rarely makes space for stillness, these Sundays offer a slow, intentional alternative.

Participants gather in the garden to breathe, reflect, and reconnect — with the earth, with each other, and with themselves. Add more about the format, facilitators, and how to join.

Reconnect Pillar

Bagged That!

Bagged That! is a hands-on container gardening program that connects participants to soil, seeds, and each other. It is designed to make gardening accessible — no yard, no land, no problem. Using bags and containers, anyone can grow food wherever they are.

The program teaches participants how to grow herbs, vegetables, and flowers in small spaces, building practical skills and community at the same time. Add more about upcoming sessions and how to sign up.

Reawaken Pillar

Te Nou Workshops

Te Nou Workshops are hands-on, skill-building sessions in gardening, food preservation, seed saving, composting, and sustainable living. Each workshop is a practical activation of our Reawaken pillar — turning ancestral knowledge into everyday practice.

Workshops are open to all community members and are designed to be accessible, welcoming, and grounded in both traditional knowledge and modern sustainability practices. Add your workshop schedule and registration details here.

Reawaken Pillar

Sip & Plant

Sip & Plant is a social workshop series that blends community, conversation, and container gardening. It is designed to be relaxed, joyful, and accessible — a space where learning happens alongside laughter and connection.

Participants enjoy a beverage, get their hands in the soil, and leave with a planted container and new skills. The series rotates through different plants, themes, and seasonal focuses. Add your schedule and sign-up details here.

Reawaken Pillar · Annual Event

Black Futurism Panel

The Black Futurism Panel is an annual gathering that explores the intersection of Blackness, ecology, food justice, and the future we are building together. It brings together thinkers, practitioners, artists, and community members to imagine and activate a different world.

The 2024 panel explored how Black and diasporic communities are reclaiming land, food systems, and ancestral knowledge as acts of liberation and futurism. Add your 2025 panel details, speakers, and registration information here.

Annual Event

'24 Black Futurism Panel

Add your full recap and details for the 2024 Black Futurism Panel here — speakers, themes, photos, and video recordings. This page serves as an archive and a preview of the 2025 event.

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Whether you want to volunteer, partner, donate, attend an event, or simply learn more — reach out and someone from our team will be in touch.