2. How did the Champlain Housing Trust get involved with VCGN’s “Day in the Dirt” event? Why?
3. How does your company help out at this event?
4. What has been your experience with VCGN's event, Day in the Dirt?
5. Why do you think supporting local community gardens is important?
1. I first reached out to VCGN when I first started in my role in Spring of 2015 -- my position was envisioned as a way to help build community throughout our housing properties, which included the development of community gardens as a way to engage residents and connect them with healthier and more accessible food. At the time, I had limited knowledge and experience in gardening, and as such, I felt unprepared to take on such a task. Throughout the past couple years, VCGN has helped us develop six community gardens (as of this coming summer it will be 9) and train over 35 residents through various gardening workshops.
2. Last year, Dan Baker’s class partnered with VCGN to provide support to various community gardens in the area, and Jess reached out to me to see if we’d like help with our Harbor Place garden.
Harbor Place is a unique model of community gardening - the property is an old motel that we purchased in the fall of 2013 with the intent to provide lower cost option for people who were homeless with no other place to stay. The State has long used motels for emergency, temporary housing for people who are homeless when the shelters are full, and CHT offered an inexpensive option that would also bring services to help guests get back on their feet.
Due to this nature of the property, guests don’t have as much stake in the garden as they would in traditional community gardens – many guests are there for only one night, while some are there for a month or longer. The idea behind developing the garden at Harbor Place was to have volunteers plant and maintain it, and in turn, help us provide fresh, healthy food to folks staying there.
3. We meet with students prior to the official workday to assess needs and priorities, and I’m available to discuss ideas and suggestions throughout the planning process. We provide all supplies and tools and are there on the work day to help facilitate and assist however needed.
4. Great! Without the help from the class I don’t think we would have managed to get as far along as we did last summer. It’s a fun event that helps us out tremendously.
5. Many reasons – increasing food accessibility, helping low-income folks offset their food costs, teaching people to eat healthier, educating folks on less common crops and teaching them how to cook with them, building community….just to name a few.
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