Spring Brings Renewal of Community Gardens and Community Partnerships
Slowly the earth is gathering the sun’s increasing warmth, the light of longer days, and the lifegiving moisture of rains and snows to renew itself once again. Each year in the midst of this always awe-inspiring transformation, we look forward to renewing our community gardens, and renewing our work with the thousands of volunteers who make it a tradition to help with planting season and renew their connection to the outdoors and the beauty of gardens. Over the years, our Community Conservation Program has transformed many public areas into attractive greenspaces. The before and after photos on the slideshow below illustrates three examples of how neighborhoods and volunteers are creating vibrant welcome mats for their communities.
Community Conservation is all about community renewal and revitalization ...
Using green places to help revitalize communities and reconnect people to nature and to the potential of their own neighborhoods is the core of WPC’s Community Conservation program. Working with members of the community, the Conservancy has helped identify locations that are highly visible and will make a significant difference in the public landscape of the area. Many of the gardens are “gateways” into a community, whether urban, suburban or rural in location. They provide a green welcome mat that visibly demonstrates that people care enough that they will get their hands dirty and invest their own time to make their community more attractive.
... in Lawrenceville
As you drive through Lawrenceville, a community within the City of Pittsburgh, you quickly get the sense that the people here cares about this community. With new storefronts and busy sidewalks, it’s clear this community has made a commitment to renew the vigor and health of its main commercial artery, Butler Street, and the surrounding residential areas. Contributing to this community renewal are three WPC urban community gardens that help visually revitalize the area. Since 1998, local volunteers have planted and tended these community gardens in an effort to bring a splash of color to a densely settled urban setting. Just as important, these gardens are a visible reminder that Lawrenceville neighbors get involved and invest their own time and energy into making these gardens, and their community, an asset that thousands of people can enjoy.
The Lawrenceville Corp. is the central coordinator for these three sites, serving as the gardens’ captain. It helps coordinate with the three neighborhood volunteer garden stewards who organize volunteers for planting day, as well as pulling the weeds and caring for the flowers all summer long. We salute Lisa Pilewski at the Lawrenceville Corp. and our three garden stewards, Bill Stanhope, Beth Monoian and Nancy Bittner (of the group Lawrenceville United) for supporting eight consecutive years of volunteer partnerships. Through their efforts, many Lawrenceville neighbors have become involved and have improved their neighborhood. They also get to enjoy the beautiful results of their hard work every time they pass one of the gardens in full bloom.
... on the North Side
Just five years ago, the corner of General Robinson Street and Anderson Street on the City of Pittsburgh’s North Side was a fairly uninspiring view of grass and bare land surrounded by highway ramps. All that changed when the workers of the Alcoa Corp. decided to become caretakers of a new Western Pennsylvania Conservancy community garden. Bringing their children and other family members, Alcoa workers came out early on a spring morning, fully outfitted with supplies and provisions to make the day as much like a picnic as possible. Within hours they transformed 2,628 square feet of dirt into a brilliant display of living color. Special thanks go to Don Moeslein who coordinates all of this effort.
During last year’s planting, some of the children had a special opportunity to connect with nature as they discovered a nest of 12 baby bunnies in the grass. They took delight in watching the tiny newborn wildlife, then carefully covered them under the grass to protect them from the midday sun.
... in Monessen
Some years ago, while working for the Mon Valley Initiative, Judy McNeil was involved in helping organize a WPCcommunity garden near the Homestead Grays (High Level) bridge in the Homestead area of Pittsburgh. Impressed with the impact of that garden, Judy approached the Conservancy about a new garden in her own community of Monessen in Westmoreland County. With the support of the Monessen NAACP, the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Monessen, the garden was established in 2001.
“My biggest support,” says Judy, “comes from the students of the Agape Day Treatment Center, a facility that works with at-risk students.” The students work on the garden to fulfill their community service requirements, and often to their surprise they begin to look forward to the experience of working weekly to care for the garden. “They can really see the end results of their hard work,” notes Judy. The students help plant the garden in the spring, weed and water it all summer, and then help remove and recycle the flowers at the end of the growing season.
Both the community and the students benefit. The community has a colorful garden to help “dress up” a busy corner. Perhaps even more importantly, tending the garden helps the students themselves gain skills, poise, experience and positive reinforcement. This garden is growing future citizens right along with the flowers!
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