Village Exchange Center (VEC) was established as a non-profit community center in 2017. Its Village Farm program, started in 2020, produces culturally diverse and community-selected organic produce, provides an immersive farm training program for immigrant and refugee populations, and creates a gathering place for a diverse community all within a small urban farm on a brownfield site along the Westerly Creek in Aurora, Colorado.
This one-acre site, east of downtown Denver, champions broad-reaching community impact by providing equitable access to outdoor spaces and organic foods.
Since 2017, VEC has evolved in direct response to changing community needs, becoming a trusted anchor to more than 60,000 individuals in northwest Aurora and the broader Denver region each year. Its diverse programming addresses food access, housing, employment, health, and social connection.
Headquartered in a former church in downtown Aurora, VEC operates its Village Farm a short distance away on a one-acre parcel of land adjacent to Aurora’s popular Stanley Marketplace—a former aviation manufacturing facility that now features over 50 local businesses including shops, restaurants and breweries.
Westerly Creek flows through the Stanley Marketplace site, and Village Farm lies within its floodplain. When the creek’s flow corridor was reconfigured to reduce flood hazards and improve open space, the Farm embraced the opportunity to make a shift and improve its facilities too, moving its operations to a different—and higher—parcel of the Stanley Marketplace site. Civitas joined the mission at this point, donating design services in support of this effort to improve equitable access to outdoor spaces and organic foods.
Civitas’ plan for the renovated site prioritizes Village Farm’s existing operations, including raised garden beds and flower patches, and lays the foundation for expanded offerings including community events and gathering space.
The land’s industrial past means the Farm is situated on a brownfield, affected by environmental contamination. Organic produce is grown safely in raised garden beds placed above the brownfield soil, while crops such as native wildflowers are grown directly in the ground in order to naturally extract contaminants and replace them with nutrients.
An expansive new deck is envisioned to improve access to the Farm’s operational hub—a renovated trailer—and provides a stage for community events. A multifunctional plaza and lawn surround the deck, ultimately supporting the Farm’s vision to bring diverse groups of people together around food. Integrated structures and furnishings are designed with flexibility in mind, empowering programming such as produce exchanges, potluck meals, seasonal festivals, as well as revenue-generating private events.
Along the creek’s edge, a landscape buffer is composed of native plants, playful log steppers, various forms of seating, and shade structures to provide a comfortable environment for children and adults alike. Additionally, the vegetated buffer will bolster the Farm’s existing bee population and support efforts to increase biodiversity along Westerly Creek.
Across the site, Civitas has specified cost-effective, environmentally-friendly design details in alignment with VEC’s community-led, non-profit status—all without compromising the goal to create an inviting place where people feel safe and welcome to gather. Furnishings and other features are site sensitive. For example, seven steel rings were found onsite and will be repurposed as shade structures with thatched roofs. Log steppers and picnic tables are made from salvaged wood. And recycled asphalt serves as the ground covering within gathering areas and service paths.
The renovated gardens were completed in time for the 2025 growing season, allowing VEC to grow a record 3,200 pounds of produce and increase its number of cut-flower bouquet subscriptions by 50%.
At the end of Village Farms’ 2025 growing season, Civitas and the Colorado-Wyoming chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA CO-WY) joined forces for a cleanup day at the Farm. Volunteers represented landscape architecture and engineering firms as well as city and non-profit entities. The beautiful late-fall morning started off with Andrea Zimmer, VEC’s Associate Director of Food Access, sharing the organization’s mission and fun facts about the produce diversity of the Farm (who knew that saffron grows so well in Colorado?!).
Then, volunteers helped harvest the last of the produce, tilled and placed compost on the perennial flower beds, and removed irrigation lines. As VEC looks to expand their impact in 2026, this winter preparation is critical for soil health and future crop production.
VEC continues its fundraising efforts to fully bring Village Farm to life, seeking $100,000 to complete the final phases of its new and improved facilities, including a green house and additional raised beds for expanded growing capacity, and the accessible deck for community gatherings.
If you’re able to contribute and would like to make a donation, please click here. With this kind of support, Village Farm can provide more fresh produce to families in need, create educational opportunities, and deepen its impact in our Colorado community.
If you have questions or would like to get involved, you can reach out to VEC’s development team at info@VillageExchangeCenter.org.
