The City of Tempe is seeing an unlikely pairing of faith-based organizations with disaster preparedness and resiliency.

According to Carissa Fowler, Desert Palm United Church of Christ is one of eight such faith-based organizations, doing its part by installing a community garden to help residents adapt, respond, and recover from the growing and potentially disastrous impacts of climate change.

In her role as a Heat Mitigation and Resilience Specialist for the City of Tempe, Fowler created and now manages the Tempe Resilience Hub Network, an initiative designed to empower communities to be better prepared for--and resilient to--three main hazards: heat, fires, and power outages.

So, what does that have to do with community gardens?