"CHRC's Community Garden Testimonial" Written by: Jaime Bryant

The Cincinnati Human Relations Commission, CHRC, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, WHRF, and the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati partnered for an inaugural Youth Garden Apprenticeship.  The youth were selected from the CHRC’s worksite for the City of Cincinnati’s 2014 Youth to Work Program.  The Civic Garden Center paired CHRC youth to a WHRF community garden that needed a significant amount of aesthetic attention.  

Under the supervision of Jaime Bryant, CHRC worksite supervisor and CHRC Youth Services Coordinator, the youth apprentices worked at the Concord Street Community Garden in Walnut Hills for seven weeks.  During that time, plenty of shrubs, stumps, weeds and vines were pulled, even discharged bullets.  The youth were developing relationships with the neighbors by sharing stories, giving advice about gardening and helping improve the curb appeal in that area.  Slowly, but surely, a new look was given to the garden, that at one point, was almost unnoticeable.  Now, the Concord Street garden is flourishing with strategically-placed bee hives, healthy and plentiful garden beds, and more neighborhood support.  

The youth took away a large sense of accomplishment, basic gardening skills, pride in their work, and an appreciation for giving back to the community.  Despite some of the extremely hot days, most of the youth had perfect attendance and had the desire to attend work.  All of them enjoyed this experience, and they want to start community gardens in their own neighborhoods.

If you click on this link, you can see some of the work from our Youth 2 Work Program employees: https://www.facebook.com/WalnutHillsRF