Change is coming to the Children’s Garden this year. Photo courtesy of The Children’s Garden Facebook page.
By Ian Grabina
Old Ottawa East is facing a wave of change. Many aspects of residents’ lives – from the use of land and green space, to the make-up of the community and the roads people drive – will be altered over the next five years.
This transition is echoing in one of the community’s cornerstones: its beloved Children’s Garden. Over the next 12 months, a number of founding members of the Garden Steering Committee will be stepping down.
As with many community initiatives, volunteer engagement and involvement is cyclical. The Garden is no different. With these departures, there will be a hole at the centre of the steering committee. At press time, that hole remained unfilled.
The Children’s Garden is seeking community input and involvement so it can remain an integral part of the Old Ottawa East landscape. Like the Community Development Plan for the Oblates land and the community engagement that shaped Main Street Renewal, the Garden needs vision, leadership and commitment to remain viable and grow.
The departure of key volunteers creates new opportunities. Several steering committee vacancies are open to residents, including Chair, Volunteer Engagement Coordinator, and core volunteers.
In addition to positions on the steering committee, the Garden is always seeking committed volunteers to help in all aspects of operations. These roles include landscape maintenance, skilled and unskilled gardening, woodworking, carpentry and general upkeep. With two core volunteers staying on and two others remaining available for consultation, incoming volunteers will have a wealth of experience from which to draw.
“The garden is ready to be passed on to a new group of core volunteers who want to put their imprint on it,” says Rebecca Aird, one of the Garden’s departing founders. “There’s really an opportunity for people to step in.”
“We have the opportunity to sustain important community initiatives so that they can continue into the future,” adds Geri Blinick, Community Developer with Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, a key partner and supporter of the Garden since its inception. “(The Garden) provides many benefits to the community in Old Ottawa East and beyond, including health promotion, animation of public space, skills development opportunities (particularly in the areas of early childhood learning, gardening, food security) and community engagement opportunities.”
In an effort to leverage existing Old Ottawa East infrastructure, 2015 will mark the first steps in a partnership between the Garden and Old Ottawa East’s Community Activities Group.
Starting this spring, play groups, along with additional new programming, will be offered in the Garden as part of CAG programming. Residents will be able to sign-up for a playgroup as they would any other CAG program (www.OttawaEastCAG.ca). Pricing will be consistent with what families have come to expect from pre-registered CAG play groups.
This is the first step towards increased programming in the Garden in partnership with CAG, which has a solid record of community engagement. The CAG programming model is meant to be a step towards long-term Garden sustainability.
Other partner-based Garden programming was successful in the past. New offerings are being investigated within the Garden’s network.
The Garden has an opportunity to reinvent itself and re- integrate into the lives of families it serves. It can mean more to Old Ottawa East, Old Ottawa South, Sandy Hill and the Glebe. It can continue to find exciting, interesting ways to be meaningful. Residents will decide what comes next.
Anyone interested in getting involved is strongly encouraged to email: childrensgarden@sustainablelivingottawaeast.ca.
An open-house will take place March 10 at 6:30p.m. (Location to be confirmed) Information will be forwarded to those who express interest and will also be posted on the SLOE website in the coming weeks.
