If you open the iron gate between Ralphs Florist and Hollywood Antiques on Northeast 42nd Avenue, and then walk through a narrow alleyway and up an aging set of wooden steps, you will come to the office of Growing Gardens, a 10-year-old nonprofit dedicated to helping Portlanders create successful gardens432 of them over the past decadeat home, in schools and around the community. And if growing a garden is what youre after, Rodney Bender will help you do it.

A graduate of Evergreen College with a degree in sustainable agriculture and community development, Bender says being the organizations garden-programs manager is his dream job. When the position that I have now opened up, I immediately jumped on it, he says. I knew that if I got it, I would be the luckiest guy in the world.

I just like spending time with our gardeners, he says. In spring and summer, I spend all day visiting gardeners and spend two hours or so with each one. And when I go home, I realize that were actually doing something really cool here, and helping people in their lives.

Most of the gardeners Bender works with are the heads of low-income households who might not be able to afford to buy fresh, organic produce. With tools, seeds and advice from Growing Gardens, families build garden beds in their back yards, make their own compost and get a little closer to self-sufficiency.

Sometimes some of the folks that we work with dont ever eat any fresh produce at all, Bender says. This is an opportunity for them not only to discover what thats like, but also to provide it for themselves.

The easygoing 35-year-old is full of stories of lives made better by backyard gardens, from a shy first-time gardener who has become an active volunteer to a single mother of seven whose children fell so in love with their garden they dedicated their entire yard and much of their house to horticulture.

Our gardeners report that they spend more time outdoors because of the garden, Bender says. They meet their neighbors, because its a great way to start up conversation...and almost all of them share food with neighbors, friends, family, church members and whatnot.

Bender says Growing Gardens is hoping to expand its services in coming years and to create a support network of experienced gardeners to help first-timers. Of his work, he says, Ive just gotten more passionate about it every year.