== La Esperanza Green Indoor Plaza == Project Coordinators: [[http://afhny.org/members/profile.php?id=158|Julia Hustwit]] and [[http://afhny.org/members/profile.php?id=202|Marshall Shuster]] La Esperanza is a non-for-profit organization that has been serving the Washington Heights community for over 55 years. Established in 1952 as an "indoor plaza" (a traditional meeting place for the neighborhood's rapidly growing Hispanic community), La Esperanza provides basic literacy and adult education classes, and services for children with low educational performance. La Esperanza contacted AFHny in the fall of 2008, seeking assistance with the design of display carts for a new “Green Indoor Plaza”. Healthy food is often difficult to find in low-income immigrant communities, and many families report having difficulties getting children and adults to eat fruits and vegetables. La Esperanza's goals for the Green Indoor Plaza were to establish kiosks to provide fresh fruits and vegetables, to the Washington Heights community, and to help disseminate bilingual information and provide workshops on health-related issues, nutrition, and food preparation. AFHny volunteers led by Julia Hustwit and Marshall Shuster worked with La Esperanza to provide a design solution that is both flexible and affordable. The volunteers also looked at the facilities as a whole, and provided a schematic plan for renovation. La Esperanza is now using the materials developed by the project team to pursue funding. {{projects:la_esperanza_kiosks_renderings.jpg?500|Renderings of Kiosk Proposal (Julia Huswit)}}