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Allied Neighborhood Pride Project |
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HomeTable of ContentsPossible garden spaces photos Budget
Senior/Key Person Profile
1. Grant Application Package 2. Application for Federal Assistance, Research and Related Personal Data 5. Project / Performance Site Locations 15. Research and Related Other Project Information Included attachments:
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Introduction: The Allied Neighborhood Pride Project will be establishing community gardens on the right-of-way of Madison’s Southwest Commuter bike path. The project area is immediately adjacent to 22 low-income apartment buildings containing 8 units each. The area is approximately one quarter-mile long, located between Allied Drive and Carling Drive, south of the Verona Road underpass. The area will support up to 20,000 square feet of garden area. The gardens will serve many purposes: they will provide free, fresh food to an underprivileged community; they will give area residents fresh air, exercise, a productive way to spend time; and they will create a greater sense of community as residents work together toward a common goal. As part of the preparation, there will be programs where participants will learn the basics of setting up a garden and help to select the layout and types of plantings they prefer. During the season, in addition to working in the gardens, there will be weekly dinner meetings, where they will learn to prepare the produce they have grown, provide a check-in on progress, and plan for the next week. Programs will also include information on food preservation methods. In addition to the gardens, we will work with city crews to provide landscaping and maintenance of the bike path, both for the enjoyment of users of the path, and to create a greater sense of safety and security in an area that is often perceived to be unsafe by much of the city. Working with property owners, the Allied Neighborhood Pride Project will also enable residents to take pride in local apartment buildings by providing sub-grants to a building resident to work with other resident volunteers to provide foundation landscaping, as well as installing and maintaining food gardens, where there is appropriate space and conditions, and where they have the owner’s consent. ii. Goal: The goal of the Allied Neighborhood Pride Program is to engage the Allied community in productive activities to enable them to become more self-sufficient, take pride in their surroundings, grow together as a community with a common purpose, and celebrate their culture. The community garden project will give residents opportunities to host social events where they will both learn and teach food preparation skills, working with produce they have grown. They will learn gardening methods, and organic weed and pest management practices. They will learn time management and the care and keeping of tools. They will learn about weather and how it affects their ability to keep a schedule. And they will likely learn disappointment when weather, animals, insects, disease, or inconsiderate humans damage or destroy the fruits of their labor. In the foundations planting project, the resident leaders will learn financial budgeting and volunteer recruitment and retention. They will learn, and then teach, aspects of landscaping such as choosing appropriate plantings for each site and the care and upkeep of the plantings. And they will learn working in a group as part of regular meetings to assess the progress of their individual projects, plan future activities and schedule project laborers to assist them as needed. The primary goal, however, is to demonstrate the value of making fairly simple improvements to properties creating an environment of caring and respect within a community. Long term it will also serve as a model for other similar areas in the city. iii. How this project will build upon or expand related work or programs; The Allied Neighborhood Pride Project is an extension of the City of Madison’s initiative in creating the Allied Area Task Force in 2005. The City’s Community Development Authority (CDA) purchased 2 square blocks of blighted buildings, demolished them, and is now rebuilding those portions of the neighborhood with affordable housing options. The buildings that are part of this project are in the remainder of the neighborhood. The basics of the foundations planting portion of the Allied Neighborhood Pride Project is outlined in a Safety and Security document produced by a subcommittee of the Task Force and approved by the Madison City Council. In talking with building owners about having residents help maintain the exterior of buildings with landscaping projects, I’ve gotten very enthusiastic responses. The idea is a win for everyone, after all. As part of the Safety and Security document, the Allied Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association recently began a neighborhood watch program, which incorporates areas of the bike path included as part of this proposal. Due to a recent mugging on the bike path, it was suggested by Madison Police patrol officers that we consider requesting additional maintenance of the path, with the offhand suggestion of using some of the land for gardening. A phone call to the City Engineer confirmed that it was not only a viable option, but that the city would heartily support use of the land for community gardens. And this grant proposal was born. iv. How the work on this project relates to the experience of key project personnel; Dorothy Krause has been an active part of the Allied neighborhood for more than the past 5 years. Since buying a house about a half-mile away from Allied Drive in 2002, over time, she became aware of various activities in the area and began taking an interest in helping to improve the neighborhood. She belongs to two different area Neighborhood Associations that cover the Allied neighborhood, and serves as Treasurer of one. She is active in Madison’s Allied Area Task Force, and other neighborhood groups such as the Neighborhood Watch Program, Allied Partners, the Allied Wellness Co-op, Community Meals, and Mothers in the Neighborhood. She is already well known by residents even though she lives just outside the project area. In April 2011 she was elected to the city council in her district, running on the platform, “By the people, For the people”. Dorothy has gained significant gardening experience working with Madison’s Community Action Coalition (CAC) in their Community Garden program as a lead gardener since 2007. She has a large untilled plot in the gardens at Marlborough Park that she has maintained for 5 years, gradually adding a variety of food and floral perennial plantings as well as annual vegetables and flower s. She is also Treasurer for the garden, which consists of over 150 individual plots. Being aware of the processes used by Will Allen and Growing Power in Milwaukee, Dorothy also has a strong interest in developing urban agriculture opportunities as well as other types of gardening projects. Prairie restoration, rain gardens, butterfly gardens, and permaculture practices are also of interest to her. v. The involvement of stakeholders in developing project objectives and implementing results: Madison Urban Ministries (MUM) (see attachment) will be the fiscal agent for the grant funds, and receive 10% ($15,000) of the award for their services. Dorothy Krause will provide overall supervision of all aspects of the grant. She will work with MUM to ensure that all monies are directed appropriately and in a timely fashion. She will have the primary role in volunteer recruitment and retention. She will work with sub-grantees to support their work. She’ll help organize workshops, meals, and events for project participants. And she will be an active participant in working in the gardens. Once the grant is confirmed, Dorothy will begin accepting applications in four areas: 1. (10) neighborhood residents interested in managing a sub-grant to do building landscaping, 2. (4) area workers capable of doing the heavy lifting required, and available to coordinate work among all parts of the grant, 3. a local landscape professional to teach and support the sub-grantees efforts, and 4. a local gardener experienced with working in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program that can teach participants garden skills, food preparation and preservation. There are already many community members actively engaged in the community, and the vast majority of them will also become involved in this effort in various ways. They include the Neighborhood Association, employees and clients of the Allied Wellness Center, the Wellness Co-op, Madison Apprenticeship Program (MAP) Joining Forces for Families, the Welcomer’s program, Mother’s in the Neighborhood, GEMS (Girls Empowered by Motivated Sisters) and the Neighborhood Watch program. Other service organizations that work with local residents will also be involved, though perhaps to a lesser extent. Those would include Allied Partners (representatives of area churches), the Allied Stakeholders group, Madison’s Allied Area Task Force, the Allied Property Owners Association, CAC and area community gardens, Head Start, the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Learning Center, City Alders, Police Departments and other City Officials from both Madison and Fitchburg (the municipal boundary runs right through the neighborhood.) The Boys and Girls Club will have a special organizing role as host for many of the gatherings of participants of the Allied Neighborhood Pride Project. The area young people from their program have taken great delight in the garden plot they have maintained for a number of years now in the Marlborough Park Community Gardens, about a half mile from Allied. They would look forward to being able to take a more active role in gardens in their back yard. Many of the Allied families already garden at Marlborough Park and would likely transfer, in whole or in part, to begin gardening closer to home as well. And they would, of course, bring their knowledge and experience with them. vi. Target audience and end users of this project. The vast majority of the people involved in this project are residents of a low-income neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin. The community lacks many services that are commonly found in residential communities, such as a grocery store within walkable distance or a church, to serve as an anchor for the community. There is high unemployment, chronic poverty, a high incarceration rate, especially for the African-American males in the community, a large number of single mothers with young children, and grandmothers caring for their grandbabies. And a lot of people who never made it through High School, nonetheless college. In spite of those statistics, there is a bond among the people that won’t be broken, and a spirit that drives them forward. They are a proud people and deserving of an opportunity to be helped out of the circumstances that our society has created for them. They are a people of faith, and their religion becomes a tie that binds them together and gives them the drive to organize and improve their lives. As far as their financial wellbeing, one can say, “get a job!” But there are no jobs to get gotten. Our system of welfare allows some relief, especially the W2 program (http://dcf.wisconsin.gov/w2/wisworks.htm), but generally not enough to regain a significant sense of pride of accomplishment or success. We are making effort to turn potential negative behaviors around and give area residents the ability to take the hard road to success through self-achievement. A very few residents have a support system that enables them to get the education to get a good job, but the vast majority do not, so they depend on one another. But the resources are becoming more and more scarce. Many of the community services in the area, as well as the support groups that the residents themselves have created, and their faith, become the form of support that the majority have available to them. The Allied Neighborhood Pride Project will become a significant support program in the community and will live on well past the end date of this grant funding. This grant money can not all of the community needs, but it can give them a strong start in learning productive ways to provide for their community, and a sense of pride in having accomplished a lot more than just hanging around waiting for the next welfare check. With land to grow food on, they become less dependent on others for handouts. With productive ways to spend time, they will be less likely to hang out on street corners, where trouble seems to find them. If they become productive enough growing garden produce, they may end up with extra to be able to sell some at a local farmers market. And if they really enjoy it, they will have opportunities to join a farm incubator program at the Farley Center and turn their new interest into a job.
Objectives: i. Brief review ¨ Provide a means of obtaining fresh food and productive activity in an area sorely in need of both, ¨ help build neighborhood pride and a sense of accomplishment where there are limited options for either. ii. project objectives. 1. Establish community garden space along a quarter mile bike path, alongside a low-income area, 2. assist the city in maintaining the bike path corridor from Lovell Lane to the Verona Road underpass, 3. install and maintain foundation plantings around low-income apartment buildings, and explore areas at apartment buildings appropriate to help establish private gardens. Methods: Procedures by objective: i. Techniques and methods to be employed: 1. Work with City of Madison crews to define appropriate areas for gardens, engage community members in preparing the soil and planting some perennial crops in the fall of 2011, conduct planning meetings over the winter, continue soil preparation and plantings in the spring of 2012, set up and maintain schedule of weeding and maintenance tasks over summer, distribute produce as it becomes available, plant additional perennial crops, clean up garden areas, and prepare gardens for the winter. Build on the work of the previous year for the growing season of 2013, and, hopefully, for many years to come. 2. Help city crews to clear the undergrowth on the hillside along the western edge of the bike path to provide safety for path users. Work with area garden and permaculture groups to establish a planting program for desired additional plantings (fruit &/or nut trees or shrubs, butterfly gardens, rain gardens, etc) on the west side of the path. Define areas of responsibility between city workers and gardeners for maintenance of the area. 3. Locate apartment residents desiring to be awarded a sub-grant to work with property owners and other resident volunteers to plan and implement landscape improvements to the exteriors of small groupings of adjoining residential apartment buildings as well as establish additional gardens for residents of the buildings. Monitor, encourage, and support the group of awardees as they learn financial budgeting, volunteer recruitment, time management, landscape techniques, preparation, planting, and maintenance of planted areas. ii. Experience with and plan for collaborating with local groups and administering a micro-subgrants program to support community gardening; As mentioned above, there are many groups working in the community already, and we will be collaborating closely with them. In addition, this is an area rich in a variety of ‘green’ groups of folks interested in all aspects of gardening, permaculture, and urban agriculture. We will be taking advantage of their support and expertise. We will be providing 10 $5000 sub-grants to area residents to learn simple landscaping and gardening and apply what they learn to the low-income buildings they live in and around. $3600 of the grant will be a stipend for their time and service, the remaining $1400 will be for them to implement their new skills by buying planting materials. (The project will supply tools, materials, and equipment to support them, so they will not have additional cost for that.) iii. Timeline of activities with milestones and verifiable indicators, which demonstrate progress. Fall 2011: volunteer recruitment; planning and preparation of initial garden beds on the bike path; sub-grantees identified; needs assessment of buildings receiving landscape plantings; clearing of agreed upon areas of bike path hillside Winter 2011: Monthly planning meetings with volunteers and sub-grantees. Conduct classes on gardening and landscaping techniques utilizing CSA farmers and landscape consultants. Purchase of tools and supplies. Spring 2012: preparation of garden beds; planting of annual and perennial vegetables and ornamental plants; initial plantings of foundation landscaping; initial clearing and mowing of bike path hillside. Summer 2012: continue maintenance of all plantings, conduct weekly supper meetings where participants will learn to use the produce as it becomes available. Fall 2012: Harvest produce, classes on preservation techniques, continue caring for gardens, and monitoring sub-grant landscaping projects Winter 2013 Monthly meeting and planning sessions. Time of rest for the earth and its caretakers. Spring and summer 2013 Back into planting mode! Weekly planning meetings, suppers and socials. Cooking, preserving classes continue. Share harvest with community. Fall 2013: Put gardens to bed for the winter. Make plans to continue the program beyond this funding cycle, seek out other grant opportunities. iv. Other Attachments Photos of area buildings included in the project. Photos of possible areas for gardens. Allied Area Task Force Safety and Security Subcommittee approved document Aerial photo of project area MUM note Support letters |
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