Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm’s AgriHood Baltimore Food Box Delivery Program Wins 2025 Henrietta Lacks Memorial Award

The Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute (UHI) proudly presented the 2025 Henrietta Lacks Memorial Awardto the AgriHood Baltimore Food Box Delivery Program, led by Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm (PPHUF) in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, during the Henrietta Lacks Memorial Lecture, hosted by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) at Turner Auditorium.

This award recognizes exceptional partnerships between Johns Hopkins and Baltimore City organizations that honor the legacy of Henrietta Lacks through their commitment to building trust, advancing health equity, and strengthening community well-being.

Watch the award winners share their inspiring journey and the impact of their collaborative project in this powerful video.

Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to address food insecurity in West Baltimore, the program bridges urban agriculture and health equity—delivering fresh, locally grown produce directly to families while fostering unity, employment, and pride. “This program is key to bringing the community together,” said Founder Farmer Chippy.

The community-engaged research project led by Dr. Jenny Peña Díaz, Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, aimed to better understand how to reduce health disparities in a community like Park Heights.  Supported by the Bloomberg American Health Initiative’s Food Systems for Health program, Dr. Peña Díaz collaborated with PPHUF to examine how increasing access to locally grown produce could improve the affordability and availability of healthy foods in the Park Heights community during the pandemic.

Each week, farmers and volunteers distributed boxes across the community, supported by Hopkins Research Coordinator Sydney Santos, who gathered stories from participants. “So many stories stuck with me,” she shared. “Residents talked about how their blood sugar levels improved after receiving the boxes; it really showed how medicine and community can work together.” Reflecting on those conversations, Dr. Peña Díaz noted that participants especially valued having “fresh food nearby and free of cost,” resources that made healthy eating possible during a difficult time. 

For Bria Morton-Lane, a Community Research Assistant and member of the Park Heights community, the experience of collecting those stories was deeply personal. “It didn’t feel like research, it felt like community,” she said, noting how her existing connection to the neighborhood helped residents feel comfortable sharing their experiences. That trust, she added, made the difference between data collection and real connection.

That theme of trust also resonated with Farmer Tiara Matthews, Farm Manager and President of PPHUF. “Knowing the history Johns Hopkins has had with Black communities in Baltimore, this collaboration is very important,” she said. “People now seeing [Johns Hopkins] engage with communities like this, it allows you to see that people can change.”

Today, that same spirit continues. Farmer Tiara and her team still harvest and deliver produce weekly to families in Park Heights, sustaining not only access to food, but also the trust and togetherness that define the AgriHood Baltimore Food Box Delivery Program. 

This ongoing partnership, grounded in collaboration, care, and community voice, is what earned AgriHood Baltimore the 2025 Henrietta Lacks Memorial Award. When Farmer Chippy accepted the award on behalf of the program, he was joined by the farmers, youth, and neighbors who make this work possible, a living reminder that community transformation begins with inclusion. In his acceptance speech, he reflected on the power of shared leadership: 

“This award signifies the collaboration between academic institutions and community. Magic happens when you allow community to lead you. You get access to brilliant things, brilliant people, and you are able to satisfy and check all your boxes for research. It is important, and I reiterate, that you let the community lead.”

Following the ceremony, Farmer Chippy joined a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Lisa Cooper, Director of the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute and the Center for Health Equity (CHE). The conversation, which included experts from Hopkins and the community—among them the keynote speaker, Dr. Deidra Crews, nephrologist and Deputy Director of CHE, and members of the Lacks family (Veronica Robinson and David Lacks, Jr.) —focused on how trust between institutions and communities is cultivated and sustained, a theme central to the Henrietta Lacks Memorial Lecture. 

As UHI celebrates 25 Years of Advancing Health Equity in Baltimore, Dr. Cooper shared that collaborations like AgriHood Baltimore “remind us that progress begins with listening, trust, and shared purpose. When community members and organizations are given the agency to identify their priorities, real progress toward health equity becomes possible.” The AgriHood Food Box Program embodies the very legacy of Henrietta Lacks, where science meets community, and research grows from trust. In Park Heights, that legacy lives on through every box of fresh food delivered and every relationship built in the process.

Watch the full recording and explore photos from the day here.