(I couldn't resist my journalistic roots when I stumbled on this story right under my nose, during our visit to St. Louis. That was two weeks ago. Take heart. I did.)
On
the edge of downtown St. Louis, across from the regional offices of the FBI and
in the shadow of a busy hotel, hope has taken root along with a field of garden
vegetables that form the City Seeds Urban Farm.
There are thousands of community and rooftop gardens springing up across the country, some with government help. But this one in Missouri is unique. The organizers are driven by a commitment to produce organic, local produce and at the same time teach the basics of market gardening to a very special group of helpers.
Depending
on the day of the week, the staff and volunteers at City Seeds Urban Farm could
be working with clients of the social services system - men and women of all
ages who are homeless or addicted to drugs or newly released from prison. At other times the helpers are military veterans,
desperate to find work and avoid homelessness themselves.
Off
to one side of the farm are separate patches:
small
garden plots with the names of their owners written long-hand on pieces of paper.
garden plots with the names of their owners written long-hand on pieces of paper.
One of them - with young shoots of radishes and beets - belongs to Alice Burgdorf - an intense bundle of energy, who speaks in short bursts of painful openness.
As a visiting journalist, I asked for a
volunteer amongst the clients - someone who would agree to an interview. Alice's hand went up like a shot.
When
I interviewed her in late September, she was homeless - sleeping at St.
Patrick's shelter in St. Louis. She'd
been part of the City Seeds program for three weeks. But in the time her tiny garden on the edge
of the farm showed some healthy sprouts of radishes and beets. "I've
been part of the DFS since I was six...that's the Division of Family Services...I
was in foster homes until I was 18."
She tells a story that's all too common - of bouncing around from one foster home to another - falling into drug addiction - and finally homelessness. But at the age of 45 she's convinced her caseworkers at St. Patrick's that she can learn enough from working at the farm to make a difference.
"What I like about this place is that nobody's yelling at you. It's so peaceful!'
What makes this project unique is that it's a blend of agricultural pragmatism, Roman Catholic spirituality and fundraising prowess. Add to that the lessons first learned
at Alcoholics Anonymous. Just ask volunteer councillor, 22 year old Brianna McGuire.
She's a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps - a faith based organization that supports volunteers like her. The JVC works with the St. Patrick Centre. It is the largest non-profit organization in St. Louis that provides assistance to the homeless.
Brianna receives $100 a month for her expenses at a house she shares with other volunteers. For that, she devotes most of her time to City Seeds. She's on the lookout for value-added projects - like making candles from the wax provided by the farm's bee hives; or producing vinegars flavoured with the fragile herbs grown on the urban hillside. She shows clients how to press flowers for greeting cards.
But she devotes equal attention to the clients themselves. As a trusted volunteer she studies the clients files and their personal histories. "Here at the garden I try to keep
them on track, keep them focussed on the garden. I like to call it horticultural therapy."
They've even developed their own 12 step program. I don't have them all, but Brianna explains the 12 steps are divided into three groups: one involves the neeed for pruning
and thinning in your personal life, the same as in a garden.
Another involves the need for patience - truly necessary in farming and in human relationships.
Another involves, she says, the need for honest interaction: 'You have to be consistent with crops...you can't pretend to water a plant. If you don't look after it properly, you'll see the consequences.
Brianna admits that some of the metaphor breaks down: how can you ask forgiveness from a plant?
The clients are not expected to buy into the Catholicism...but they are expected to make an effort with the 12 steps.
She explains the whole thing started in 2006 with a $US210,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture focussed on food security. Since that was exhausted in
2010 the small staff spend much of their winter raising money from every possible source.
Last year they produced 11,000 pounds of produce. Some is sold at the St. Louis farmers market and some of it is given to people.
As a Peace Corps alumnus, she says, "I was drawn to this work."
She says there are several measurements of success with the clients. "For the vets...we aim for employment after the ten week program. For the homeless, we hope they will find their own homes after a 16 week program. And for those dealing with substance abuse, we hope they can find a way to live cleanly.'
As for Alice Burgdorf, she has an apartment lined up beginning in October. In the meantime, she's tending her beets and radishes with a tenderness that only new
gardeners can understand.
What a great story. I've been hearing about urban gardening. In Ottawa there were "guerrilla gardeners" who would covertly move onto vacant unmaintained urban lots and turn them into lush gardens. Occasionally a shocked landlord would turn up to find his lot ablaze with produce.
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