Here is what I am going to share at the annual meeting on Monday. A neighbor came by and suggested I share this to help people understand the situation and come to the meeting in a positive way.
Hi, I’m Amy _, and I would like to speak on behalf of the community garden planners and volunteers tonight about the garden proposal. The community garden project began over a year ago with the distribution of a survey to each and every household in Sycamore Hills. Two basic questions were asked: Is there interest in and support for the garden proposal, and if so, where should the garden be located?
We asked these questions because we wanted to find out if the community garden was something our neighborhood wanted. It was very important to us that our neighbors felt that their voices mattered in the planning process, even if they didn’t plan to be directly involved in the garden itself. We asked questions and listened carefully, especially when people expressed reservations about the garden, because we wanted the project to be for and by the community.
Many people responded to the initial survey. Those responses can be summed up as follows: Yes, we think a community garden is a good idea, but putting the garden on Shadowbrook is not a good idea. Based on this positive response from the community, planning for the garden moved forward, with a focus on locating the garden in the park.
Meetings were held to which all were invited, emails were sent out, updates were published, and a blog was set up so that everyone could see and take part in the planning. And good things started to happen! People joined in and helped shape the garden--they volunteered their time to work on the four grants we submitted, they worked on the entrances to raise money for the project, they worked with the City of Columbus to create a new community garden/city park lease agreement, and they wrote letters to businesses and schools to create partnerships.
Until very recently, none of the garden planners had any idea that a few people were unhappy about the community garden project. No one contacted any of the garden planners with a simple phone call or email for clarification. Instead, a handful of folks spread misinformation, and as a result, what had been apathy on the part of some turned into anger.
When the garden planners finally caught wind of some opposition to the plan, a new survey was distributed. Again, the idea was to invite people to voice their feelings about the garden proposal and to take part in the planning. Many people responded (thank you) and so now we have a more accurate idea of how the community garden proposal is perceived. Although there is even more support for the garden than before, there is also new opposition to the garden in the park. Because we could not find a location that worked for everyone and because our intention was always to do the will of the community, the garden project will not move forward at this time.
It is disappointing that the many people who spent hours volunteering their time for this community project could have and would have spent their time more productively on other projects if people had expressed their concerns about the garden project when first given the opportunity to do so. We hope that the people who are involved now will continue to be involved in positive and neighborly ways and that people who have good ideas for the community do not become reluctant to propose them because of the way in which the garden project has unfolded.
This is the end of the community garden, but the beginning of something else. Just the planning and working toward the garden have brought many neighbors together. I personally have made new friends and connected with people I wouldn’t have had a chance to talk with otherwise. This work has created a lot of support and interest in a community building initiative around gardening, so we hope that all of that goodwill and fellowship create something else really great.
In closing, thank you to the neighbors who joined in the conversation, thank you to the volunteers who gave of themselves for the betterment of others, and thank you for your attention.
Showing posts with label Communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Communication. Show all posts
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Updates
Three lovely people showed up to work on the entrances on Saturday. We weeded, trimmed and prepped the beds for winter. None of us could bare to take out the annuals because they look so lovely, so we left them to remove later.
The rain started in earnest shortly there after, which might be why people didn't show up for the perennial exchange. However, plants were exchanged with neighbors on a door to door basis later on, and new friends were made, which was the point of all of it--so let's just call that one a success! :) Hopefully this will be a biannual tradition.
Much of the discussion on Saturday centered around catching people up on the opposition to the garden. Ideas of a revitalization of the garden club ensued as a different way to help get people involved in the community and connected. We will see where this all goes.
Lastly, today surveys were handed out to neighbors, and an electronic version will go out via email. Hopefully the organizers will get a lot of responses.
The rain started in earnest shortly there after, which might be why people didn't show up for the perennial exchange. However, plants were exchanged with neighbors on a door to door basis later on, and new friends were made, which was the point of all of it--so let's just call that one a success! :) Hopefully this will be a biannual tradition.
Much of the discussion on Saturday centered around catching people up on the opposition to the garden. Ideas of a revitalization of the garden club ensued as a different way to help get people involved in the community and connected. We will see where this all goes.
Lastly, today surveys were handed out to neighbors, and an electronic version will go out via email. Hopefully the organizers will get a lot of responses.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Consequences
Here is an email I just received about our neighborhood. This is what happens when people act poorly:
I apologize in advance if you’re not the correct _, but I got your name off of the Sycamore Hills and Columbus community gardening blog sites. I am contacting you because my husband and I are currently looking into purchasing a house in the neighborhood (down on Northport Circle), and you seemed like a good person to ask about the ‘hood. I was very sorry to read about the resistance to the community garden, and frankly it is making us think twice now about the house. I guess I was just hoping to get your take on whether you still think the neighborhood overall is a friendly place to live. For example, if I wanted to put in a big side yard garden bordered in neon pink chicken wire, do you think the neighbors would despise me? (not that I would necessarily do this, just a litmus :) I hope this doesn’t sound out of order – the community looks very nice and I know there will always be a few grumps in any neighborhood – but I just want to make sure we’re not walking into control freak central if you know what I mean. Any insights you would feel comfortable offering would be greatly appreciated.
I apologize in advance if you’re not the correct _, but I got your name off of the Sycamore Hills and Columbus community gardening blog sites. I am contacting you because my husband and I are currently looking into purchasing a house in the neighborhood (down on Northport Circle), and you seemed like a good person to ask about the ‘hood. I was very sorry to read about the resistance to the community garden, and frankly it is making us think twice now about the house. I guess I was just hoping to get your take on whether you still think the neighborhood overall is a friendly place to live. For example, if I wanted to put in a big side yard garden bordered in neon pink chicken wire, do you think the neighbors would despise me? (not that I would necessarily do this, just a litmus :) I hope this doesn’t sound out of order – the community looks very nice and I know there will always be a few grumps in any neighborhood – but I just want to make sure we’re not walking into control freak central if you know what I mean. Any insights you would feel comfortable offering would be greatly appreciated.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Emails about the park location
1.
Amy:
Good Friday afternoon and I hope this e-mail finds you safely home from time on the coast.
_ spoke with Tom K. yesterday and he directed us to you. We have concerns associated with the Community Garden and want to make sure that we go to the source for information, hence we are coming to you.
Would you be willing to contact me when you return home? I would rather have you answer our questions via a conversation to ensure that we are able to ask follow-up questions and "unpack" some of our concerns instead of e-mail.
My cell phone # is .
Thank you,
_ Rockport Rd.
_________________________________
Hi, _,
Thank you so much for writing and starting a solution focused conversation! It is refreshing! I would love to talk with you and hear your concerns. I will call you Sunday afternoon.
Amy
ps I like the word "unpack"-it is a good one- we use it all the time in my courses/discussions at OSU.
2.
Tom and Amy,
_ have always attempted to be "good neighbors" to the Sycamore Hills community over the twenty years in which we have made this our home. We have both served as trustees of the resident's association, me for one year and _ for about five years. _ additionally published the newsletter and prepared the neighborhood directory for many years. My children walked the neighborhood to hand deliver the newsletters and directories to save the residents' association the postage. We have hosted wine socials, Christmas caroling and other events in our home. I donated the legal work to rewrite the bylaws and restrictive covenants so the annual dues could be increased. _ considered moving about eight years ago to a larger home, but we loved being next to the park so much we instead added a large family room to our house with as many windows as we could to enjoy the view.
With that in mind, I cannot tell you how utterly disappointed I am that the trustees would plan to erect a six foot high, 50' by 50' chain link fence immediately next to my property. I just found out about this a week and a half ago. I reviewed the presentation that you posted on the Sycamore Hills website at that time which further indicated you intended to put a 16' compost pile just below my children's bedroom windows into which you invited the neighbors to dump their kitchen scraps. It indicated you also intended to put a tool shed immediately next to my yard and invited the neighbors to leave their empty milk jugs on site. You intend to build a "structure" of some type with large barrels containing standing water which would breed mosquitos. I cannot believe that you would all plan to do so without giving our family, as well as the other park neighbors, the courtesy of calling us to find out if we would have any objections to this scenario.
I am not sure if you are aware of this, but when my daughter, _ was three years old she was diagnosed with leukemia. She was on chemotherapy and underwent cranial radiation treatments for over two years. Since that time I have refrained from having any non-organic herbicides sprayed on my lawn. My neighbors, the _, have similarly refrained from doing so out of concern for my daughter's health. I do not see any way to monitor the spraying of herbicides, insecticides or pesticides by twenty different individuals in their garden plots and I was/am especially upset when your plans posted as recently as two weeks ago indicated this could be going on right next to my house.
I wondered how you got authority from the City of Columbus to fence in such a large area for the garden. In reviewing the website, it appears the city specifically asked "How much community acceptance/support" there was for the project. I was shocked that the trustees/garden club represented to the city that: "We have 97% support of the garden from the neighborhood." In reviewing the chart on your website, it appears that less than 30 of the approximately 225 Sycamore Hills residents responded that they supported the general concept of a community garden and only 8 of the 225 residents preferred that it be placed in the park. Assuming I am reading those graphs correctly, advising the city that 97% of the 225 households supported a garden in the park in order to get permission from the city was a misrepresentation of which the city ought to be made aware.
Virtually all the neighbors that border the park strongly oppose the placement of a community garden in the park. I say virtually all because there are some that I do not believe are still aware of the plan such as _. _have houses near the park. They have been dedicating their time to cutting the grass in the park using their own mowers in order to keep it nice for the neighborhood. They also strongly oppose a garden in the park and wonder why they were not given the courtesy of a call to discuss these plans with them. I have also spoken with a number of the neighbors in the Wishing Well subdivision who are part of the community that surrounds the park. It appears that no one notified them of any plans to make such a significant change to the use and appearance of the park and I have yet to speak to any of them that support it.
I am going to be out of town this weekend. I will try to attend the trustee meeting Sunday evening if I am able to get back in town in time to discuss these issues. In the meantime, I strongly urge you to abandon any attempt to use the park for this project in its entirety.
_____________________________
_,
Thank you for the email. It is good that people communicate directly about these issues. Your concerns are valid and a number of them are not what is occurring. As an example, like you, the community garden planners are committed to 100% organic and so is the city in their lease agreement.
As email leaves a lot to be desired, I think it is imperative that there is a meeting to clarify what has been proposed. Two of the garden planners and some time will be available during the SHRA meeting Sunday night. Should your schedule not allow you to be there, please advise what times next week are good for you and hopefully our schedules line up and we can work through any remaining issues.
It is important to the garden planners that folks be involved in this process. This is why the garden planners personally went to every resident's home and attempted to discuss the proposal, as well as setting up the blog / website. Also, at every house, printed material encouraging folks to ask questions, share their opinions, and to become involved in this process was left behind. Out of these efforts, suggestions for improvements were made from residents and the plan revised. Hopefully with your input, further improvements can be realized and this community building activity can/will be as successful as we envision and as successful as my community garden experience was in Bend, Oregon and here in other community gardens around Columbus.
Have a safe trip back to Columbus and let me know when we can meet.
____________________________________________
3.
A few days ago I spoke with _ about an Association proposal to establish a Sycamore Hills Community Garden at Sycamore Hills Park. Although I doubt our family would take advantage of a Community Garden, we still support the concept none the less. However, from the information Jim provided, it appears the proposed garden site would be right next to the Gallagher house and property. Given the probable negative impact on his property value as well as the equally negative impact on his families summer time quality of life, being in such close proximity to the frequent noise, odors, (and worse) from agricultural chemicals, etc., I would think locating the garden in the back of the park property, (next to the train tracks) would be a far better situation and more fair to the Gallagher family and their immediate neighbors. I do not support the site plan as it now exists, so I encourage you to reconsider and put it in the back of the park.
Thanks for all the Association work you do.
Best Regards,
__________________________________
Hi, _,
Thank you for the feedback regarding the garden location. I've learned that there has been some confusion about the proposed location of the garden, most likely due to an inaccurate image previously provided by the city.
I have attached the corrected image. I believe you will find the location to be acceptable. It is not near the railroad tracks because the garden should be accessible to people of all ages, including those who are less mobile. The location behind the basketball court and trees allows for stroller, wheelchair, etc access via the paved path and basketball court.
Also, I would like to address the additional concerns mentioned in your email. The garden will be organic, so no chemicals will be used. Compost of leaves, plant material, and grass creates only enriched soil, no odor. Noise will be minimal, infrequent, and equivalent to that of a neighbor doing occasional yard work, but the actual location should also alleviate this concern.
I appreciate your thoughts and am glad you brought them into discussion. Please feel free to contact me and/or attend the SHRA or SH Community Garden meetings in the future if you have any other concerns.
Thanks for your email,
Amy:
Good Friday afternoon and I hope this e-mail finds you safely home from time on the coast.
_ spoke with Tom K. yesterday and he directed us to you. We have concerns associated with the Community Garden and want to make sure that we go to the source for information, hence we are coming to you.
Would you be willing to contact me when you return home? I would rather have you answer our questions via a conversation to ensure that we are able to ask follow-up questions and "unpack" some of our concerns instead of e-mail.
My cell phone # is .
Thank you,
_ Rockport Rd.
_________________________________
Hi, _,
Thank you so much for writing and starting a solution focused conversation! It is refreshing! I would love to talk with you and hear your concerns. I will call you Sunday afternoon.
Amy
ps I like the word "unpack"-it is a good one- we use it all the time in my courses/discussions at OSU.
2.
Tom and Amy,
_ have always attempted to be "good neighbors" to the Sycamore Hills community over the twenty years in which we have made this our home. We have both served as trustees of the resident's association, me for one year and _ for about five years. _ additionally published the newsletter and prepared the neighborhood directory for many years. My children walked the neighborhood to hand deliver the newsletters and directories to save the residents' association the postage. We have hosted wine socials, Christmas caroling and other events in our home. I donated the legal work to rewrite the bylaws and restrictive covenants so the annual dues could be increased. _ considered moving about eight years ago to a larger home, but we loved being next to the park so much we instead added a large family room to our house with as many windows as we could to enjoy the view.
With that in mind, I cannot tell you how utterly disappointed I am that the trustees would plan to erect a six foot high, 50' by 50' chain link fence immediately next to my property. I just found out about this a week and a half ago. I reviewed the presentation that you posted on the Sycamore Hills website at that time which further indicated you intended to put a 16' compost pile just below my children's bedroom windows into which you invited the neighbors to dump their kitchen scraps. It indicated you also intended to put a tool shed immediately next to my yard and invited the neighbors to leave their empty milk jugs on site. You intend to build a "structure" of some type with large barrels containing standing water which would breed mosquitos. I cannot believe that you would all plan to do so without giving our family, as well as the other park neighbors, the courtesy of calling us to find out if we would have any objections to this scenario.
I am not sure if you are aware of this, but when my daughter, _ was three years old she was diagnosed with leukemia. She was on chemotherapy and underwent cranial radiation treatments for over two years. Since that time I have refrained from having any non-organic herbicides sprayed on my lawn. My neighbors, the _, have similarly refrained from doing so out of concern for my daughter's health. I do not see any way to monitor the spraying of herbicides, insecticides or pesticides by twenty different individuals in their garden plots and I was/am especially upset when your plans posted as recently as two weeks ago indicated this could be going on right next to my house.
I wondered how you got authority from the City of Columbus to fence in such a large area for the garden. In reviewing the website, it appears the city specifically asked "How much community acceptance/support" there was for the project. I was shocked that the trustees/garden club represented to the city that: "We have 97% support of the garden from the neighborhood." In reviewing the chart on your website, it appears that less than 30 of the approximately 225 Sycamore Hills residents responded that they supported the general concept of a community garden and only 8 of the 225 residents preferred that it be placed in the park. Assuming I am reading those graphs correctly, advising the city that 97% of the 225 households supported a garden in the park in order to get permission from the city was a misrepresentation of which the city ought to be made aware.
Virtually all the neighbors that border the park strongly oppose the placement of a community garden in the park. I say virtually all because there are some that I do not believe are still aware of the plan such as _. _have houses near the park. They have been dedicating their time to cutting the grass in the park using their own mowers in order to keep it nice for the neighborhood. They also strongly oppose a garden in the park and wonder why they were not given the courtesy of a call to discuss these plans with them. I have also spoken with a number of the neighbors in the Wishing Well subdivision who are part of the community that surrounds the park. It appears that no one notified them of any plans to make such a significant change to the use and appearance of the park and I have yet to speak to any of them that support it.
I am going to be out of town this weekend. I will try to attend the trustee meeting Sunday evening if I am able to get back in town in time to discuss these issues. In the meantime, I strongly urge you to abandon any attempt to use the park for this project in its entirety.
_____________________________
_,
Thank you for the email. It is good that people communicate directly about these issues. Your concerns are valid and a number of them are not what is occurring. As an example, like you, the community garden planners are committed to 100% organic and so is the city in their lease agreement.
As email leaves a lot to be desired, I think it is imperative that there is a meeting to clarify what has been proposed. Two of the garden planners and some time will be available during the SHRA meeting Sunday night. Should your schedule not allow you to be there, please advise what times next week are good for you and hopefully our schedules line up and we can work through any remaining issues.
It is important to the garden planners that folks be involved in this process. This is why the garden planners personally went to every resident's home and attempted to discuss the proposal, as well as setting up the blog / website. Also, at every house, printed material encouraging folks to ask questions, share their opinions, and to become involved in this process was left behind. Out of these efforts, suggestions for improvements were made from residents and the plan revised. Hopefully with your input, further improvements can be realized and this community building activity can/will be as successful as we envision and as successful as my community garden experience was in Bend, Oregon and here in other community gardens around Columbus.
Have a safe trip back to Columbus and let me know when we can meet.
____________________________________________
3.
A few days ago I spoke with _ about an Association proposal to establish a Sycamore Hills Community Garden at Sycamore Hills Park. Although I doubt our family would take advantage of a Community Garden, we still support the concept none the less. However, from the information Jim provided, it appears the proposed garden site would be right next to the Gallagher house and property. Given the probable negative impact on his property value as well as the equally negative impact on his families summer time quality of life, being in such close proximity to the frequent noise, odors, (and worse) from agricultural chemicals, etc., I would think locating the garden in the back of the park property, (next to the train tracks) would be a far better situation and more fair to the Gallagher family and their immediate neighbors. I do not support the site plan as it now exists, so I encourage you to reconsider and put it in the back of the park.
Thanks for all the Association work you do.
Best Regards,
__________________________________
Hi, _,
Thank you for the feedback regarding the garden location. I've learned that there has been some confusion about the proposed location of the garden, most likely due to an inaccurate image previously provided by the city.
I have attached the corrected image. I believe you will find the location to be acceptable. It is not near the railroad tracks because the garden should be accessible to people of all ages, including those who are less mobile. The location behind the basketball court and trees allows for stroller, wheelchair, etc access via the paved path and basketball court.
Also, I would like to address the additional concerns mentioned in your email. The garden will be organic, so no chemicals will be used. Compost of leaves, plant material, and grass creates only enriched soil, no odor. Noise will be minimal, infrequent, and equivalent to that of a neighbor doing occasional yard work, but the actual location should also alleviate this concern.
I appreciate your thoughts and am glad you brought them into discussion. Please feel free to contact me and/or attend the SHRA or SH Community Garden meetings in the future if you have any other concerns.
Thanks for your email,
New Newsletter Update
In light of recent conversations expressing concern about the community garden location, it has become an immediate necessity that the garden planners clear up the misconceptions and misinformation that is spreading throughout our neighborhood. First and foremost, we would like to clarify that all items concerning the community garden are still in a planning/proposal stage and that no dirt will be moved until we have reached a consensus among neighbors and met the necessary city requirements.
To address this situation, clarifying information about the proposal along with a survey are scheduled to be distributed around 9/26. The goal of this effort is to improve the understanding of the proposal and to receive current data and input on the proposal. Included in the packet will be an updated survey allowing you the opportunity to voice your opinions on various elements of the proposed garden. Please take the time to make your voice heard so that we can move forward in an efficient and productive manner. Completed surveys should be returned to Amy _ by October 1, so that she can tally the results before the annual meeting on October 5th.
The goal for this community garden and its volunteers is to grow and connect our community.
To address this situation, clarifying information about the proposal along with a survey are scheduled to be distributed around 9/26. The goal of this effort is to improve the understanding of the proposal and to receive current data and input on the proposal. Included in the packet will be an updated survey allowing you the opportunity to voice your opinions on various elements of the proposed garden. Please take the time to make your voice heard so that we can move forward in an efficient and productive manner. Completed surveys should be returned to Amy _ by October 1, so that she can tally the results before the annual meeting on October 5th.
The goal for this community garden and its volunteers is to grow and connect our community.
Monday, September 7, 2009
SHCG Update for September 2009 SHRA Newsletter
SHCG Update
We have wonderful news for our future community garden. It would appear that through many meetings and emails, on 8/5, we finally made some headway with the city. They are in full support of our garden in the park, including our construction of raised beds and a fence. These two items are essential for our success and longevity as a garden, so this is great news!
CRP considers us a model garden to showcase partnerships between community gardeners and parks because we are so well organized and professional in our planning, we have proved we have a strong residents' association, and we have maintained the pool property for over 40 years. Because of their support, we will finally be creating the garden in the Spring 2010, so there will be lots of opportunities to help in a variety of ways, including: wood working, fence installation, getting dirt and compost, spreading woodchips, and getting donations!
More information to come on opportunities to support the community garden, as well as to sign up for a raised bed through which to grow food and fellowship.
If you are not on the email list for the SHCG, please let Amy know to add your contact information.
Amy also gave a presentation on the garden to the Northwest Civic Association on 8/5. The NWCA was happy to hear about our project and has offered their enthusiastic support, including ideas about bringing this project to the attention of our government leaders!
A SHRA entrance work day will take place before the perennial split sale on 9/26 from 8-10 am. We will be weeding, rearranging and dividing plants, and preparing our entrances for the winter. Please contact Amy at 849 8421 or pinnegar.1@gmail.com if you are interested in helping on that day (or a different time that would be more convenient for you).
We have wonderful news for our future community garden. It would appear that through many meetings and emails, on 8/5, we finally made some headway with the city. They are in full support of our garden in the park, including our construction of raised beds and a fence. These two items are essential for our success and longevity as a garden, so this is great news!
CRP considers us a model garden to showcase partnerships between community gardeners and parks because we are so well organized and professional in our planning, we have proved we have a strong residents' association, and we have maintained the pool property for over 40 years. Because of their support, we will finally be creating the garden in the Spring 2010, so there will be lots of opportunities to help in a variety of ways, including: wood working, fence installation, getting dirt and compost, spreading woodchips, and getting donations!
More information to come on opportunities to support the community garden, as well as to sign up for a raised bed through which to grow food and fellowship.
If you are not on the email list for the SHCG, please let Amy know to add your contact information.
Amy also gave a presentation on the garden to the Northwest Civic Association on 8/5. The NWCA was happy to hear about our project and has offered their enthusiastic support, including ideas about bringing this project to the attention of our government leaders!
A SHRA entrance work day will take place before the perennial split sale on 9/26 from 8-10 am. We will be weeding, rearranging and dividing plants, and preparing our entrances for the winter. Please contact Amy at 849 8421 or pinnegar.1@gmail.com if you are interested in helping on that day (or a different time that would be more convenient for you).
Monday, May 4, 2009
NWCA Presentation
Email reply from Jen
Amy-- We can put you on the agenda for the June meeting (June 3). Our May meeting is very full. We do not meet in July. If that doesn't work-- our next meeting would be August 5. Let me know what works. Our plan is to add links to all of our neighborhoods and provide general information about hem. We will certainly link Sycamore Hills to our website--you can be our pilot neighborhood! Growing up in Wishing Well and Sycamore Hills, I know what a strong neighborhood it is. I also am a member of the pool and receive all of the event notices. Thanks for everything you do!~Jen
So, this means I will be doing a presentation on August 5. Linda has offered to help, and she also had a great idea to get kids and letter writing involved! whoo hoo!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Email to NWCA
northwestcivic@yahoo.com Hi, NWCA! I live in the northwest area of Columbus and I am writing to you for two reasons. The first is that I would like to tell you about my neighborhood's new homeowners association website that we would appreciate you adding to the "Other Area Association Websites" on your blog. It is http://www.sycamorehills.us/. We have a wonderful community with a very active residents association and special programs like the Sycamore Hills Pool, Sycamore Hills Community Garden (SHCG) and Mothers of Sycamore Hills (MOSH) that we would like NW residents to know about. Secondly, I would love to come to a NWCA meeting on Wednesday night to present information about the community garden. At the last meeting I attended, I spoke with Bill Carleton (because it is a garden in a park) about it after the meeting was over and he said that this is something that the association would be interested in hearing about. Thanks for your time and all you do for the community,Amy
Email to Midwest Living
Hello, I am an avid reader of Midwest Living, and I am writing to inquire about possible funding or awards for community initiatives. I (with the help of many other community members) am in the process of creating the first community garden within the parks and recreation department in Columbus, Ohio. We need funding and support to make this happen, and I would love for Midwest Living to get involved. Please let me know if this is something you would be interested in and I will write back with more details. Thanks for your time and consideration,Amy
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
4/14 Email to Planners
Hi, Ladies!
I hope Linda is enjoying her vaca and NOT reading this email right now! :) Melody's vaca is on the way, so that means it will be Sue's turn soon! :)
I talked with Bill Dawson for a long time today in regards to what seems to be a HUGE discrepancy between our vision for a successful community garden and their vision for a "no issue for them" community garden. It was very helpful and here is what he said:
1. talk with NWCA to get their support. I plan to contact them today and set up a time to present at their meeting. I hope you will come with me!
2. find a representative from NWA. We do not have any representation for our area, so this will take some legwork. more support the better AND they speak directly to the city council, so this is important.
3. meet with Maureen at the park. I hope you can come to this too. Bill is going to come. He said It HAS to be more than me! I am inviting the SHRA board too, but I am especially going to get Tom there. Emphasize this is wanted by the community.
4. capture quotes from the neighbors in support of the garden. would someone be willing to do this? this would mean sending out an email or calling people to ask for quotes AND looking through the letters than came in aobut the garden and pulling quotes out (and then asking permission to use them.)
5. Apply for friends of the park status. I need your signatures. I need to get Tom's too!
6. If things don't work out with Maureen, we need to talk with Rachel, who is Priscilla Tyson's assistant, and then schedule a meeting with Councilwoman Tyson. We need to get her involved and ask for concessions. She is really behind projects like this. Also, we can get Charlita Tovares involved from the health aspect.
7. contact water and power about water access.
8. Prepare your case: Click here to see that information in the other post.
I hope Linda is enjoying her vaca and NOT reading this email right now! :) Melody's vaca is on the way, so that means it will be Sue's turn soon! :)
I talked with Bill Dawson for a long time today in regards to what seems to be a HUGE discrepancy between our vision for a successful community garden and their vision for a "no issue for them" community garden. It was very helpful and here is what he said:
1. talk with NWCA to get their support. I plan to contact them today and set up a time to present at their meeting. I hope you will come with me!
2. find a representative from NWA. We do not have any representation for our area, so this will take some legwork. more support the better AND they speak directly to the city council, so this is important.
3. meet with Maureen at the park. I hope you can come to this too. Bill is going to come. He said It HAS to be more than me! I am inviting the SHRA board too, but I am especially going to get Tom there. Emphasize this is wanted by the community.
4. capture quotes from the neighbors in support of the garden. would someone be willing to do this? this would mean sending out an email or calling people to ask for quotes AND looking through the letters than came in aobut the garden and pulling quotes out (and then asking permission to use them.)
5. Apply for friends of the park status. I need your signatures. I need to get Tom's too!
6. If things don't work out with Maureen, we need to talk with Rachel, who is Priscilla Tyson's assistant, and then schedule a meeting with Councilwoman Tyson. We need to get her involved and ask for concessions. She is really behind projects like this. Also, we can get Charlita Tovares involved from the health aspect.
7. contact water and power about water access.
8. Prepare your case: Click here to see that information in the other post.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Letterhead
I went to Kinkos and had 25 lovely professional looking letterhead sheets of natural paper printed out. Now we just need the letter to talk to businesses and organizations.
By they way, I saved the letterhead to a CD, had the very nice young man at the desk opened it on his computer, and printed out the paper for $.59 each. If I would have tried to do it myself, it would have cost $.20/minute on the computer, and $.99/paper.
By they way, I saved the letterhead to a CD, had the very nice young man at the desk opened it on his computer, and printed out the paper for $.59 each. If I would have tried to do it myself, it would have cost $.20/minute on the computer, and $.99/paper.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Creating a Connection with OSU MG
Here is an email about creating a connection with the OSU Master Gardener program, of which I am a proud member. I worked hard for the MG title, and I don't mind sharing that fact with you! :) Anyway, this partnership could be really exciting; full of possibilities!
Cory, I would like to help at LAMC. Should I contact Mike Fribley? Also, at some point, I would like publicize the same kind of work opportunity at the community garden I am working on. Is there a special way to create a partnership between the MGs and a garden/work site? Something that is always ongoing? ThanksAmy
Amy:
I forwarded to Mike and Juliet to loop you in. Send Mike an e-mail as well to follow-up.
I want to have the Franklin County MGs formalize our relationships with other organizations with Memoranda of Understanding. I have a draft MOU on our website to use in starting discussion with the other organization(s) http://franklin.osu.edu/horticulture/master-gardener-training-new
I also want photos, text, etc to put on our web site to trumpet MG work around the county.
Thanks!
Cory, I would like to help at LAMC. Should I contact Mike Fribley? Also, at some point, I would like publicize the same kind of work opportunity at the community garden I am working on. Is there a special way to create a partnership between the MGs and a garden/work site? Something that is always ongoing? ThanksAmy
Amy:
I forwarded to Mike and Juliet to loop you in. Send Mike an e-mail as well to follow-up.
I want to have the Franklin County MGs formalize our relationships with other organizations with Memoranda of Understanding. I have a draft MOU on our website to use in starting discussion with the other organization(s) http://franklin.osu.edu/horticulture/master-gardener-training-new
I also want photos, text, etc to put on our web site to trumpet MG work around the county.
Thanks!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Letter Back to the City
2/24/09
Hi, Tina,
Thanks so much for looking over the plans, your support, and writing back so quickly. It has been such a pleasure to work with you throughout this process!
These questions are great ones, and we are very prepared to answer them! We have discussed all of them within the garden coordinators group and with community members for the various grants we have applied for. We have separated them by topic/question:
1. meet the terms and conditions of the Policy and the Lease Agreement
a. Absolutely. The practices and procedures laid out in the agreements are actually very much in line with how we would like to see the garden run.
2. How much community acceptance/support
a. To answer this question, we would love to direct the city to our blog in which all of our research on this subject has been published online. The link to graphs of that information is here:
i. http://sycamorehillscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/2008/07/survey-results.html
b. To summarize the information on these graphs:
i. We have 97% support of the garden from the neighborhood
ii. We have 31 households which are very interested in participating. That is approximately 60 people.
iii. We have 4 dedicated garden co-planners in addition to myself as the Curator and Founder.
3. 'group' that will be maintaining
a. The maintenance will be done by the families who choose to participate as part of their agreement to have a raised bed in the garden. Each bed will require one hour of service and clean up of the grounds a month. The agreement will also stipulate the conditions and time frame for putting the garden to bed in the winter. The layout of the garden is also going to help us be as maintenance free as possible by intentional design (i.e. paths covered by weed barrier and then woodchips as opposed to any grassy areas).
b. Any revisions in the maintenance plan will happen after our first year of operation when we reflect on what worked well and what needs to change.
c. We are also going to try to establish community connections to schools, churches, retirement homes, and the OSU Master Gardener group in terms of setting up service programs.
4. funds been identified
a. The grants that we have applied for are also on the blog, including our application information and budgets. That link is:
i. http://sycamorehillscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/2008/12/grants-we-are-going-for.html
ii. They are: Aveeno, Nature Hills Nursery, Fiskars Project Orange Thumb, and The Captain Planet Foundation.
b. We also will apply for the Healthy Sprouts Grant ($200-500) and the Columbus Foundation Growing to Green Grant ($4000).
c. We are also in the process of creating partnerships for local businesses.
i. So far, one lead has been secured: Strader’s Garden Center on 5th Ave will be donating goods.
5. the size
a. The garden design can be scaled down to a size that the city prefers. However, I would like to explain our reasoning for the size that I proposed.
i. The city park that this garden would be in is very large and I feel from my weekly walks and over 30 years of experience in this neighborhood that this would be a good use of only a fraction of the space.
ii. We have over 30 families that are interested in participating in the garden. If each family wants a garden bed for themselves, that will already account for the 20 beds that are planned and we can spill over into the raised beds that will be on the inside of the fence. However, if only a portion of those families want to set up a garden bed in our first year of operation, 20 raised beds will be a good amount for the families and for additional communal and educational beds (like a pizza garden) or service oriented gardens that we can donate to a local food pantry under the Grow a Row for the Hungry program.
6. Water
a. Our only plan for water is water collection barrels at this time. We were really hoping for the tap into the water supply, but we understand that in current economic situation that is not feasible and would hope that in the future this point can be revisited.
b. Because the park is located near a street, we would also provide water for the garden by requesting that community gardeners bring water in jugs with them, and invite helpful neighbors to collect water in their empty water/milk jugs to leave at the garden site.
7. Additional Questions/Developments
a. Would the city advise the SH Community Gardeners to identify themselves as Friends of Sycamore Hills Park? If so, we would like to apply.
i. It would provide us with a 5013c tax exemption code that we could offer to businesses that are interested in donating supplies to the garden, as well as for grant paperwork. Right now, we have been using the Sycamore Hills Resident’s Association tax code, but we would prefer to keep the funds separate.
Hi, Tina,
Thanks so much for looking over the plans, your support, and writing back so quickly. It has been such a pleasure to work with you throughout this process!
These questions are great ones, and we are very prepared to answer them! We have discussed all of them within the garden coordinators group and with community members for the various grants we have applied for. We have separated them by topic/question:
1. meet the terms and conditions of the Policy and the Lease Agreement
a. Absolutely. The practices and procedures laid out in the agreements are actually very much in line with how we would like to see the garden run.
2. How much community acceptance/support
a. To answer this question, we would love to direct the city to our blog in which all of our research on this subject has been published online. The link to graphs of that information is here:
i. http://sycamorehillscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/2008/07/survey-results.html
b. To summarize the information on these graphs:
i. We have 97% support of the garden from the neighborhood
ii. We have 31 households which are very interested in participating. That is approximately 60 people.
iii. We have 4 dedicated garden co-planners in addition to myself as the Curator and Founder.
3. 'group' that will be maintaining
a. The maintenance will be done by the families who choose to participate as part of their agreement to have a raised bed in the garden. Each bed will require one hour of service and clean up of the grounds a month. The agreement will also stipulate the conditions and time frame for putting the garden to bed in the winter. The layout of the garden is also going to help us be as maintenance free as possible by intentional design (i.e. paths covered by weed barrier and then woodchips as opposed to any grassy areas).
b. Any revisions in the maintenance plan will happen after our first year of operation when we reflect on what worked well and what needs to change.
c. We are also going to try to establish community connections to schools, churches, retirement homes, and the OSU Master Gardener group in terms of setting up service programs.
4. funds been identified
a. The grants that we have applied for are also on the blog, including our application information and budgets. That link is:
i. http://sycamorehillscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/2008/12/grants-we-are-going-for.html
ii. They are: Aveeno, Nature Hills Nursery, Fiskars Project Orange Thumb, and The Captain Planet Foundation.
b. We also will apply for the Healthy Sprouts Grant ($200-500) and the Columbus Foundation Growing to Green Grant ($4000).
c. We are also in the process of creating partnerships for local businesses.
i. So far, one lead has been secured: Strader’s Garden Center on 5th Ave will be donating goods.
5. the size
a. The garden design can be scaled down to a size that the city prefers. However, I would like to explain our reasoning for the size that I proposed.
i. The city park that this garden would be in is very large and I feel from my weekly walks and over 30 years of experience in this neighborhood that this would be a good use of only a fraction of the space.
ii. We have over 30 families that are interested in participating in the garden. If each family wants a garden bed for themselves, that will already account for the 20 beds that are planned and we can spill over into the raised beds that will be on the inside of the fence. However, if only a portion of those families want to set up a garden bed in our first year of operation, 20 raised beds will be a good amount for the families and for additional communal and educational beds (like a pizza garden) or service oriented gardens that we can donate to a local food pantry under the Grow a Row for the Hungry program.
6. Water
a. Our only plan for water is water collection barrels at this time. We were really hoping for the tap into the water supply, but we understand that in current economic situation that is not feasible and would hope that in the future this point can be revisited.
b. Because the park is located near a street, we would also provide water for the garden by requesting that community gardeners bring water in jugs with them, and invite helpful neighbors to collect water in their empty water/milk jugs to leave at the garden site.
7. Additional Questions/Developments
a. Would the city advise the SH Community Gardeners to identify themselves as Friends of Sycamore Hills Park? If so, we would like to apply.
i. It would provide us with a 5013c tax exemption code that we could offer to businesses that are interested in donating supplies to the garden, as well as for grant paperwork. Right now, we have been using the Sycamore Hills Resident’s Association tax code, but we would prefer to keep the funds separate.
Living in the CI-TAY of Columbus
Here is the application for Friends status. 
Ms. Pinnegar,
It was a pleasure speaking with you this afternoon—congratulations on all your efforts in creating a community garden at Sycamore Hills Park. Attached, please find the “Friends of Columbus Parks” application. I would encourage you to speak to Tina regarding this effort to ensure that there isn’t any conflict in becoming a “Friends” group and creating the community garden, though it seems to me it would be an asset to you. Again, please do keep our office in mind as you continue your efforts—we always appreciate community members taking such a vested interested in our parks. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to be of assistance.
Thank you,
Rachel
It was a pleasure speaking with you this afternoon—congratulations on all your efforts in creating a community garden at Sycamore Hills Park. Attached, please find the “Friends of Columbus Parks” application. I would encourage you to speak to Tina regarding this effort to ensure that there isn’t any conflict in becoming a “Friends” group and creating the community garden, though it seems to me it would be an asset to you. Again, please do keep our office in mind as you continue your efforts—we always appreciate community members taking such a vested interested in our parks. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to be of assistance.
Thank you,
Rachel
Working With The City
I am so happy with the City of Columbus! They are GREAT!! Here are some very interesting things I learned today about our city, parks, city council, and community gardens with just a few quick phone calls. (I would like to add that phone calls actually get picked up by PEOPLE who are very helpful! YAY COLUMBUS!)
Lesson 1: It could be very valuable for our community garden group to apply for a Friends of Sycamore Hills Park status. I have the application now (thanks, Rachel!), but I will check in with Tina first.
If we become Friends of SH, we can actually apply for a $1000 grant to beautify the park AND become our own 501(c)(3) which means we could offer tax write offs for donations AND we would not have to be under SHRA 501(c7) status which might cause problems in applying for grants since they ask for the 501(c)(3) tax exemption number.
Just to put it in writing, my vision for the garden in relation to SHRA is that the Curator will be an elected seat on the SHRA board. I want this so that this project is not solely dependent on me, but can be run by others in the future as well. This will benefit the community, the garden, and bring new energy and ideas into the way the community garden works. So, regardless of the possibilities of being our own separate entity, I still do want to be a part of SHRA and I think being our own entity as well can only enhance this partnership.
Here is an image from the website about the grant and a listing of some of the other Friends Groups. There is always the possibility that the current budget cut backs will effect this grant possibility, but it is a good resource to keep in mind for the future.
Lesson 2: This is our councilwoman in charge of City Parks. I spoke to her Legislative Assistant, Rachel and she was a wealth of information. Rachel said that Councilwoman Tyson is very supportive of community initiated events, and that it would be great to tell her about the garden someday.
Lesson 3: I have been very lucky to have the assistance of Tina. She is very supportive of this idea. I found her through Bill Dawson at Franklin Park Conservatory, but this is another way I could have gotten in contact, too.
Moral of the story: contact your city! Strangely enough, these new lessons are all the result of calling 311 to ask a few questions because someone came and painted the street that I live on with official looking markings!
Lesson 1: It could be very valuable for our community garden group to apply for a Friends of Sycamore Hills Park status. I have the application now (thanks, Rachel!), but I will check in with Tina first.
If we become Friends of SH, we can actually apply for a $1000 grant to beautify the park AND become our own 501(c)(3) which means we could offer tax write offs for donations AND we would not have to be under SHRA 501(c7) status which might cause problems in applying for grants since they ask for the 501(c)(3) tax exemption number.
Just to put it in writing, my vision for the garden in relation to SHRA is that the Curator will be an elected seat on the SHRA board. I want this so that this project is not solely dependent on me, but can be run by others in the future as well. This will benefit the community, the garden, and bring new energy and ideas into the way the community garden works. So, regardless of the possibilities of being our own separate entity, I still do want to be a part of SHRA and I think being our own entity as well can only enhance this partnership.
Here is an image from the website about the grant and a listing of some of the other Friends Groups. There is always the possibility that the current budget cut backs will effect this grant possibility, but it is a good resource to keep in mind for the future.
Lesson 2: This is our councilwoman in charge of City Parks. I spoke to her Legislative Assistant, Rachel and she was a wealth of information. Rachel said that Councilwoman Tyson is very supportive of community initiated events, and that it would be great to tell her about the garden someday.
Lesson 3: I have been very lucky to have the assistance of Tina. She is very supportive of this idea. I found her through Bill Dawson at Franklin Park Conservatory, but this is another way I could have gotten in contact, too.
Moral of the story: contact your city! Strangely enough, these new lessons are all the result of calling 311 to ask a few questions because someone came and painted the street that I live on with official looking markings!
The City Wrote Back!
Hello Amy!The Garden plans/design look very professional and you can tell that a lot of hard work went into this project. A few questions have been asked regarding the possible community garden. Do you feel that the you/the Community Garden Group would be able to meet the terms and conditions of the Policy and the Lease Agreement? How much community acceptance/support has this involved? Who is the 'group' that will be maintaining the Gardens? Have the funds been identified to support the Gardens, both presently and in the future? In reviewing the proposal, this size/caliber of Community Garden may not be appropriate for the area. That being said, do you have an idea for a scaled down version of the Gardens? Additionally, unfortunately the City will not be able to aid in any funding for the project or any type of maintenance. Thus, the tap into a water line would not be permitted. Other than rain barrels, have you identified another source of water? There are some others, but for now, these questions must be addressed first. Again, we appreciate your work on this project, well done!
Thanks!
Tina
Monday, February 16, 2009
SHRA Newsletter Update 2/16/09
Sycamore Hills Community Garden Update
From Amy
The garden planning has been in full swing during the winter months. We are currently waiting to hear back from the city concerning the Sycamore Hills Park location for the garden. If all goes well, we are hoping to break ground this MAY! All of the planning has been put onto a blog for you to look at, at your convenience. Search through the postings to find updates, photos, timelines, grant information, budgets, the garden design, communications, agendas, inspiration, and more at http://sycamorehillscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/ . Be sure to click on the orange subscribe button to have the updated posts sent to you! We are looking for community involvement and connections to sustain the garden, so if you have ideas, interest, or business contacts, please feel free to get a hold of me at pinnegar.1 AT gmail.com.
From Amy
The garden planning has been in full swing during the winter months. We are currently waiting to hear back from the city concerning the Sycamore Hills Park location for the garden. If all goes well, we are hoping to break ground this MAY! All of the planning has been put onto a blog for you to look at, at your convenience. Search through the postings to find updates, photos, timelines, grant information, budgets, the garden design, communications, agendas, inspiration, and more at http://sycamorehillscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/ . Be sure to click on the orange subscribe button to have the updated posts sent to you! We are looking for community involvement and connections to sustain the garden, so if you have ideas, interest, or business contacts, please feel free to get a hold of me at pinnegar.1 AT gmail.com.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Brochure
These images were made available by the gracious and talented graphic designer, Liz Samuelson. Her work is creative and beautiful. Check it out at: http://www.lizorak.com/.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Garden Co-Planners Unite Email
Hi, Ladies!
I am writing to you all because you have told me you are interested in being a garden co-planner and I would like to come together in the new year to get our garden going by May 2009.
I think co-planning can really look any way that works best for you and all of our busy lives, but I thought it might be a good idea for us to communicate what you want and I need to get this garden off the ground. So, far, I have been trying to delegate out a few tasks here and there as well as organize meetings. I don't want to overwhelm anyone, so I just kind of find something that needs done and email a description of the project out. Does that work for you? Is there something else you would like to do?
I was hoping to go over this at our last meeting, but we haven't all been together. Perhaps we should organize a coffee/tea meeting to talk about the timeline, roles, to-do's etc. What do you think? Maybe in January after the holidays? I know Linda has little ones, so I would be happy to come over there if that would make life easier. And, we could just make the meeting just for us (not the rest of SH), so no one has to do anything other than just show up. Anyway, let me know about that...
I have also been writing the grants. Here is the update:
I am writing to you all because you have told me you are interested in being a garden co-planner and I would like to come together in the new year to get our garden going by May 2009.
I think co-planning can really look any way that works best for you and all of our busy lives, but I thought it might be a good idea for us to communicate what you want and I need to get this garden off the ground. So, far, I have been trying to delegate out a few tasks here and there as well as organize meetings. I don't want to overwhelm anyone, so I just kind of find something that needs done and email a description of the project out. Does that work for you? Is there something else you would like to do?
I was hoping to go over this at our last meeting, but we haven't all been together. Perhaps we should organize a coffee/tea meeting to talk about the timeline, roles, to-do's etc. What do you think? Maybe in January after the holidays? I know Linda has little ones, so I would be happy to come over there if that would make life easier. And, we could just make the meeting just for us (not the rest of SH), so no one has to do anything other than just show up. Anyway, let me know about that...
I have also been writing the grants. Here is the update:
- $1500: Fiskars-Due in Feb 09, and has a second creative part after the first due date that I am a little nervous about! Linda is going to proof this one for me. I have asked Melody and Kim to think through connections we can make with our community to answer one of the grant questions. ((After the brainstorm, we will need someone to make those phone calls or write those letter. Having those supportive community connections will help us with this next grant, too...))
- $4000: Scotts Growing to Green-submitted, but we did not get. Sue and I talked about some possible things to add for the next round of submissions in Oct 09. I really think we can get it this time AND Bill Dawson said he would look it over to help out.
- $2500-1500: Nature Hills Nursery written and Roger Cherry is checking it for me. Due April 09.
- $2500-250: Captain Planet: this is all about kids and environmental connection and involvement. Creating a kid friendly and educational garden is of huge importance to me. This one hasn't been written yet. Due March 31.
I have also posted a lot to the Sycamore Hills CG Blog so that this process can be duplicated by other communities and our own garden will benefit from combined reflection and action. Please check it out:
http://sycamorehillscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/
I thought it might be helpful to see the answers for the Fiskars grant I just wrote so that you can weigh in on any ideas/vision you have for the garden or just be inspired! That is attached.
Just so you know, Sue organized the garden tour and is getting the garden design digitalized to add to the grant. ((Sue, I have another version for you to look at if your friend hasn't done anything yet. I think it might be easier to go with a rectangular version of the garden. I came to this conclusion after I started really getting going on the budget and researched fences.I will scan that and send it out to you in one or two days.))
So, I think that is it. Check out the blog, read over the grant answers, and let me know about the meeting.
Thanks!!
Amy
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