Unity Gardens of Park Hill
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Contents |
[edit] Goals
As part of the History course: Leadership in the Face of Conflict, students learned about social responsibility and citizen leadership. The students read the autobiography of Nelson Mandela to learn about the life of one of the greatest leaders of Africa. Mandela showed to be an inspirational organizer during the apartheid in Africa, and he was consistently involved in the struggle for equal rights. While in prison, Mandela was quoted saying, "A leader must also tend his garden."
The students in this class applied their knowledge of grassroots leadership to develop a community gardening project in Park Hill, Staten Island.
The Goals of the Project:
Beautify the Park Hill Apartment neighborhood
Stimulate positive interest and activity with tenants
Establish Wagner College – Park Hill community relationship
Provide activities and gardening skills to the children of the community
Serve as role models for kids growing up
Meeting New People; Enjoying Nature’s Beauty’s in the City Atmosphere!!!!!!
[edit] Project Activities
1) Community Clean Up Weekend
The Park Hill community organization, The Empowerment Zone, Wagner College students, community youth, and other Park Hill residents worked together to clean up the environment around the apartment buildings on Park Hill Avenue. The afternoon of Saturday April 5th was dedicated to picking up trash and raking leaves at 140 Park Hill Avenue. On Sunday April 6th, the clean up continued at 185 Park Hill Avenue. The clean up helped bring the Park Hill community together and served as the first step in restoring the community. It was also the first opportunity for members of the community, leaders of the Empowerment Zone, and Wagner College studens to meet and begin a relationship that would continue throughout the beautification project.
Community Clean Up in the News
2) Youth Day
Fifth grade students from PS 57 came to Wagner College to visit the greenhouse and learn the basic steps in planting a flower and helping it grow. A junior from Wagner College and keeper of the greenhouse, Dave Hammel, led the activities of the afternoon. First, Dave gave a tour of the greenhouse and answered questions about the different species of plants that he is growing. Funding provided by Project Pericles
Then the kids painted their own flower pots and planted either a marigold or pansie flower seed for themselves. The best part of the day was the kids' excitement to engage in this project and interact with students from Wagner College. They also had the opportunity to learn about the environment. The kids could share the knowledge of gardening, their excitement, and the relationships they made with their community in Park Hill.
3) Planting the Unity Gardens
April 26, 2008 marked the beginning of a long friendship between the students of Wagner College and the residents of Park Hill on the north shore Staten Island. This day marked the first planting of the unity gardens in the small inner city neighborhood which so many see when they look out their campus windows toward Manhattan. The first day of planting was hosted by the Wagner students in conjunction with Christida Howard and Patricia Lockhart of the elementary school PS 57. Christida and Patricia were able to get a group of young students together to help out with the planting effort and together Wagner students and those from PS 57 planted flowers, herbs and even a large tree in front of Apartment 280.
Wagner students came prepared with crayons and coloring supplies for the kids who exercised their artistic abilities along with tending the soil. After two hours of hard work, the planting was finished and the children were able to take their plants and artwork home. An excellent connection was made and everyone was enriched by the first successful planting in Park Hill. Funding provided by Fox Family Fund Civic Engagement Scholarship and matched by Conrad Schweitzer.
[edit] Mollie Parnis Grant
To help fulfill their goal to beautify the Parkhill area, a few Wagner College students applied for the Mollie Parnis Dress up Your Neighborhood Contest. Through the Citizens Committee, this contest gives grassroots organizations the opportunity to better their community by awarding twelve $1,000 grants to various organizations to work on community building beautification projects. After some time the Mollie Parnis organization then assess what has been done and awards one of the twelve groups with another $3,000. With the help of the Minnie Graham from the Empowerment Zone, Wagner College students applied for, and won, one of the $1,000 Mollie Parnis grants. In collaboration with the Empowerment Zone, Wagner College students decided to grow “Unity Gardens” in Parkhill with the money won from the contest. In an attempt to bring neighbors together through growing and caring for a garden, students and community leaders are hoping to see a change. The Citizens Committee offers these grants to improve and strengthen communities through grassroots organizations.
Grassroots organizations promote community activism and prove to be essential in community building. By empowering community members, grassroots leaders and organizations are able to make intimate differences within their community. Given that grassroots organizations are operated by individuals who are living in the community in which they are working for, they are dealing with issues that affect them as well and allow them to immediately connect with other community members on a level of comfort and understanding. From working in the Parkhill area and with grassroots organizations like the Empowerment Zone, Wagner College students have come to better understand community building, and empowerment from a grassroots perspective.
Interested in Applying for a Grant?
[edit] Sustaining the Unity of the Community
The main purpose for this project was to make the community members of Park Hill enthusiastic about beautifying their neighborhood. The "Unity Garden" group are simply a group of students who decided to make this "unity garden" a project which they would work on throughout the semester. As a whole they learned so much about the community and grassroots leadership. Over half of the group are seniors and will unfortunately not get a chance to experience the garden in full growth. That is where the importance of the community comes in. The group organized many different events such as the clean-up weekend and the pot planting and survey weekend. These events were aimed at getting the community members enthusiastic about this beautification project. The students hope that they have laid the ground work for a beautiful community garden which everyone can take part in and enjoy during their entire experience living in Park Hill. It is up to the residents of Park Hill and the future students to carry on this torch which carries the potential to continue unifying the community.
