Resources:
Sarah Rigg's Feature Article: New Growing Hope grant program supports Ypsi community gardens
Growing Hope Awards Inaugural Sprout Grants
Transcription:
Rylee Barnsdale: You're listening to 89 one WEMU. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is On the Ground Ypsi. Earlier this year, local nonprofit Growing Hope announced the recipients of its inaugural Sprouts Grant program, which aims to foster community self-reliance, self-determination and food sovereignty through the support of local community gardens. I'm here with Gwendolyn Copeland, whose community garden at senior apartment complex Cross Street Village was one of seven Sprouts Grant recipients. Hi, Gwen! Thanks so much for being here!
Gwendolyn Copeland: Thank you so much, Rylee! I'm glad to be here!
Rylee Barnsdale: I would love to start with just a little bit of background on the garden at Cross Street Village. Can you tell us a little bit about how it got started and how you got involved with it initially?
Gwendolyn Copeland: Cross Street Village is and has been a senior building prior to it being a school. And there were people--several residents over time--that have had the opportunity to have their own herb gardens and flower gardens. They've either moved out or they're not alive anymore. And so, when I moved here six years ago, I saw that many of those areas had not been tended to. They were overgrown, and there were species in those gardens that I think would fit into the Guinness World Book of Records for being alive. And I decided to take it upon myself to do something to them. That was back in 2021. We got the grounds cleared through Growing Hope, and then we started planting. There were residents who did help. Subsequent to my going on to other areas, teaching in school and doing other activities, the garden went back into disrepair. And this year, I got a text, fortunately, that there were funds available to re-energize our languishing gardens. And so, I wrote the grant, and bingo! Here we are!
Rylee Barnsdale: Yeah. I was curious about how you had heard about the Sprouts program and what brought you to actually applying, because I hadn't heard about it before. I knew that Growing Hope had some other initiatives going on, but this one was new to me.
Gwendolyn Copeland: Yes, it was new, and it was such a wonderful thing! I felt like it was going to be a lark, really. I thought, "Nah, they're going to do this there. They'll pick some organization or some housing complex that has 5000 people." And I just put myself down. But then, I said "Maybe. Maybe." I was like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, that maybe the wizard will read my letter and maybe we could go home, Toto. And that's what happened. And I got the response, and I read it five times, literally. I called my children. I called my mother. And I actually then called Growing Hope and asked, "When can I pick it up?" So, I was really, really excited, and I energized through my effervescent personality. I'm kidding. But I said, "Come on, guys! We got to grow this thing up!" So, we did a Busby Berkeley movie, which you are probably not aware of, but that's from the 40s when they had tap dancers wearing those glittery outfits. And so, we came together and started all over. And it's really quite lovely!
Rylee Barnsdale: How have the funds from the grant sort of been used to reinvigorate the garden in this way? Was it to expand the garden? Was it to add additional tools for residents to use? What was the goal with the funding you received?
Gwendolyn Copeland: Yes, all of the above. We have, as I said, our group, the committee, the garden committee decided that there were certain areas of our strip of dirt that some people wanted flowers, period. One person said, "I want a small cherry tree." Someone else said, "I'm going to plant veggies." My purpose that I wrote in my grant for those people who have come before us, who are no longer living here or no longer living, to have a small representation--a memorial--to those individuals that really did a caregiver job. And so, each of those four have written out our budgets and what we are willing to pay. We have an extensive amount of purchases that we want to make. My goal was, as I said, to memorialize persons who are no longer here. And so, I took some of the old artifacts, I guess you could say, to put in the center of the garden. Some of them are not paid for yet because we're doing something that is so unique. And we're adding people. So, we don't want to necessarily expand the area because it's perfect. It's just a matter of making those purchases as they come along. And they are quite costly, we're finding out. So, the tools, many of them have been donated. And so, those are the purchases that are still ongoing.
Rylee Barnsdale: This is WEMU's On the Ground Ypsi. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, talking with Growing Hope Sprouts Grant recipient Gwendolyn Copeland. Gwen, what has the overall community's response been like to this revitalization of the garden? And have there been more residents from Cross Street Village, maybe, more interested in participating or keeping things cleaned up?
Gwendolyn Copeland: Definitely! People that never talked, come out and stand and look and say, "What are you guys doing?" It's kind of a redundant question at this point because, as you may know, old people talk a lot. People talk a lot. And so, they would have updates, and they wanted confirmation. So, we find ourselves repeating the answers. When are you going to get this done? And why are you doing this and that sort of thing? But the labor that's being put into the garden is remarkable. It's just really remarkable to see people who we haven't known coming out and saying, "I have such and such. And I'll be there, son! And I want to grow X, Y, Z. And can I do that?" We've also added a wall that we're going to put up to memorialize the persons who have come before us, and that is an idea that we are resonating over or going over to, like, a wall that says this person was here, is no longer here. We love them. And so, that's what the wall is intended to be. It's the tiles that we're going to put up against our garden. So, that's how we will remember one another.
Rylee Barnsdale: Are there any plans right now to potentially maybe apply for other similar grant programs or work with other nonprofits like Growing Hope to keep things moving and make sure you get that wall built or things like that?
Gwendolyn Copeland: Definitely! We're hoping that Growing Hope will continue to keep us apprised of funds that are available. We've looked online. In this community, there are so many websites of gardens and gardeners that have brought their experience and told us about the soil or what grows in this area best. And, yes, we are looking for resources. Our new committee leader, Ken Sims, he's had a really great mind for marketing. And we're so glad that he's around.
Rylee Barnsdale: Is this a project that you think maybe couldn't have happened without this kind of jumpstart from Growing Hope? Or is this kind of a bonus that's made things a little bit easier?
Gwendolyn Copeland: It's both! It's energized some old, grouchy people. It energized me because I go out there and read and I say, "Boy, I wish we had those plants." So, that was a bonus of that. I said, "Look! Up in the sky! It's Growing Hope!" And that's kind of rekindled it. Maybe I could sit out here and look at flowers and look at an herb garden and look at a small cherry tree. Yes, it really, really did. And people, I think, I know, residents in the building say, "Wow, next year, next year! This is going to be a real garden event!" And we're like, "Yeah!"
Rylee Barnsdale: This is WEMU's On the Ground Ypsi. I'm talking with Gwendolyn Copeland from Cross Street Village Apartments. So, Gwen, as you just mentioned, too, we're kind of leaving the growing season right now. But, come next year, what should we expect to see from it and what should the residents expect to see from it once we get back into the warmer temperatures?
Gwendolyn Copeland: Well, talking about food security, that's in the uppermost mind of many seniors. And to have our own vegetables that we have tended to and that we can share with one another is paramount for me. All we have to do is go out and pluck a tomato or a cucumber or a deal patch and make a salad or lettuce and Bok choy. And oh, my goodness! The thought of these other plants, not so much corn and that, but just to know that it's there, and we don't have to walk or have a right to a store to shop. It's right here! We're going to have a variety of edibles. And I really am just jazzed about it!
Rylee Barnsdale: It's going far beyond just gardening as a hobby, it sounds like.
Gwendolyn Copeland: Most definitely! We have some individuals here who have been doing this for decades. They're very confident when they say that this item will be in abundance. And so, we have our own experts that are more than willing--and have--come forward to say, "I'll dig that! And that's not a problem!" It changes your whole personality, really, in a sense that there's hope. And the selling point is hope that we who may be looked upon is not quite as strong as we were or as active as we were, we're coming out strong as little soldiers, little garden soldiers, and maybe we could pass this on to others. I'm keeping a record through photography of the volunteers that showed up. I can't top that in money, but you certainly can be grateful.
Rylee Barnsdale: Sure, sure. Well, thank you so much, Gwen, for being here today! It sounds like this project is really getting a move-on. And it sounds like, once spring comes around, we're going to see a lot of beautiful things over at Cross Street Village!
Gwendolyn Copeland: Thank you so much!
Rylee Barnsdale: For more information on today's topic and links to the full article, visit our website at wemu.org. On the Ground Ypsi is brought to you in partnership with Concentrate Media. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti.
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