The dream of Connectemonos began through SYEP in the early 2000s through activities with a group named Cocolart. Cocolart started using the arts as an organizing tool to expose and find solutions to Highbridge Park, the Sunken Playground, and the Water Tower in the uptown area. Highbridge Park was inaccessible to the community as it was not safe and was riddled with drugs and discarded garbage. The park cleanup crew helped to provide resources from park trash to local undocumented artists to create sculptures and other forms of art. At the start of Connectemonos, all that was utilized was the park until help arrived from nearby Mirabal Sister School that helped take Connectemonos out of the park by giving them classrooms to work in. As a thank you for their service, Connectemonos helped by restoring their bathrooms and adding beauty through the art of wall murals. From 2000 to 2009, Connectemonos expanded their network while helping and collaborating with other grassroot organizations, undocumented artists, and over 1,000 people in the Summer Youth Employment Program. Now, Connectemonos is still focusing on the community by trying to promote flourishing neighborhoods with accessible and inviting open spaces, affordable apartment buildings by community ownership, and healthier lifestyles by creating an urban garden at the West 186th Street basketball court.

Connectemonos Urban Garden Project reflects on the Youth’s desire to develop a healthy and involved community. Bringing green spaces to these areas could influence a certain population back to life is what has created the Garden’s main purpose, throughout many years the development of nature has been left behind as a result of today’s modern world, many people, especially young ones, do not see nature as an essential factor in our daily lives, resulting in a daily deterioration in landscapes and green territories; with Connectemonos Urban Project this whole negative perspective of nature could change, and show people of fun and rewarding taking care of these spaces is while keeping the air and land clean and safe for the humanity.

As a non-profit organization, Connectemonos not only struggles with acquiring funds, but gaining exposure outside of its community. While promoting the organization via word of mouth and in-person events (Connectemonos’ current marketing strategy) are not necessarily ineffective tactics they are not as effective as a website or a strong social media presence would be. In order for Connectemonos’ message to reach a larger audience it must market itself in a more modern way, that is, by launching a website that is easy to navigate and curating posts that reflect current social media trends on all of their social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. In this way, Connectemonos can promote upcoming projects like the Urban Garden Project in a more concise way and on a larger scale. Moreover, using social media for promotional purposes can grow Connectemonos’ influence in the marketing realm at an exponential rate.