The purpose of the Summer Street Community Garden is to offer an explicit space for youth leadership and agency in the work of community-based food security in Bethel, Maine. Youth voices are often overlooked or outright silenced in our culture which so values “adult” decisions, and this paradigm is realized in our community when choices are made about how to create community space. The Summer Street Garden centralizes the vital role that youth play in our community and the critical understanding that they possess as to what our community needs and desires. Following the vision of high-school aged community members, the Summer Street Garden will transform a centrally-located, empty lot into a space that contributes food, energy, and a place to gather to the Bethel community. This project serves as the community service learning component for the a youth group from the NorthStar mentorship program, which cultivates leadership and community engagement in young people.