Wholespire Kershaw County, formerly Eat Smart Move More Kershaw County, is making a strategic move by teaming up with Livewell Kershaw Coalition, a coalition based on the premise that all people deserve to live well. We’re going to explain their strategy.
Shawn Putnam, the Wholespire Kershaw County chair for the past six years, stated that “throughout the past, we have been successful in having a diverse team,” which keeps diversity, equity, and inclusion top of mind during decision making. The chapter is also very active and has remained so throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, meeting monthly and transitioning to virtual meetings when it became necessary. Teaming up with Livewell Kershaw County to lead their H.E.A.L. Team has made it easier to involve more people working towards accomplishing the same goals since they are not being pulled in different directions.
What exactly is the H.E.A.L. Team?
Livewell Kershaw Coalition recently released a Community Health Improvement Plan that was to be implemented through three committees: 1) Emotional Health Team, 2) H.E.A.L. Team, and 3) Access to Care. Their H.E.A.L. Team shares similar objectives and initiatives with Wholespire Kershaw County. This is where the strategic partnership with Wholespire Kershaw County came from — ensuring all of Kershaw County was focusing on the same initiatives.
Building on a foundation of successes
Before teaming up with LiveWell Kershaw, Wholespire Kershaw County achieved quite a bit of success in increasing access to healthy choices. They put together fitness circuits at local parks, created the road safety program, and supported the mobile nutrition center through the United Way of Kershaw County. The new partnership between Wholespire Kershaw County and Livewell Kershaw Coalition aims to build on this work and do more, including one exciting project, the 5-2-1-0 campaign.
What is the 5-2-1-0 campaign?
The 5-2-1-0 campaign educates kids and their families about the benefits of eating 5 daily servings of fruits and vegetables, limiting their leisure “screen time” to 2 hours a day, getting 1 hour of physical activity daily, and drinking 0 sugar-sweetened beverages. This campaign is taking place in schools throughout Kershaw County. To add some excitement, the campaign is being turned into a competition to encourage more children and their families to participate.
The competition takes place by having children log their results at the end of each day, then tallies are taken each week, and prizes are given to classes with the highest scores. The 5-2-1-0 campaign was launched in February of 2020 but was halted by the pandemic. The hope is for Wholespire Kershaw County and Livewell Kershaw County to reintroduce this campaign to schools in February of 2022.
Collaborating for a stronger future
Wholespire Kershaw County is a shining example of what can be accomplished when partnering with another organization like Livewell Kershaw County. The projects being conducted now, and those taking place in the future, closely align with the Wholespire mission to “provide communities with proven and sustainable approaches that lead to increased access to healthy choices for ALL people.”
Upcoming projects for the partners include providing advocacy training for their coalition to better prepare them to make policy, system, and environmental change, as well as teaching the coalition how to be involved in project review processes. They’re also planning an expansion of the road safety program that focuses on advocacy for the awareness of cyclists by car drivers and to create safer roads. More projects will be unveiled soon.
If you are interested in getting involved with the initiatives of the Wholespire Kershaw County and LiveWell Kershaw, help is always needed. Active recruitment for the coalition is taking place now for those interested in the mission. There are no dues, just be passionate. To learn more or join the coalition, contact Shawn Putnam at putnam@camdensc.org or find Livewell Kershaw on Facebook.
Every county has a parks and recreation department that’s responsible for community activity programs and maintaining and ensuring the safety of its parks. But, sometimes, the playground equipment in parks unintentionally gets overlooked and becomes unsafe for children and families.
Hampton County has only one park under its name, and it’s located next door to the parks and recreation gymnasium and offices in the small town of Varnville. Recreation Park has been there for decades and it probably once hosted tons of kids and families over the years. As kids’ play choices changed, so has the foot traffic at Recreation Park. In addition, the decline in local economies has made parks and playgrounds less of a priority for rural areas of the state like Hampton County.
“Some of the equipment is probably more than 30 years old,” said Tania Peeples, Hampton County Parks and Recreation director. “The teeter-totter is wood, so it’s old. The bouncers and merry-go-round, I played on those as a child. The swing set has chains, but no seats.”
New bouncers were installed with the help of the Let’sGo! 3.0 mini-grant.
The department has changed leadership a few times, but each person had visions of bringing the park back to life and making their community healthier. They applied for a Let’sGo! 3.0 mini-grant to bring in some new playground equipment, and Wholespire was happy to give them a boost.
“Our small towns are treasures and truly deserve some help, especially those located in the I-95 corridor,” said Meg Stanley, Wholespire executive director. “Providing children and families a safe place to play is a basic community amenity that helps everyone grow healthy.”
Mini-grant funding was used to:
Replace the tire swing.
Replace missing seats and broken chains on the swing set.
Add new equipment like a double seat bouncer, truck bouncer, pearl twirl, and teeter-totter bouncer.
Peeples said, “The community loves it. The kids love it. We do have quite
A new teeter-totter in Recreation Park
a few people who come out and play. We still have a lot of work to do out there but the new playground equipment really brightened it up.”
The new playground equipment has spurred excitement for Peeples. “I would like to remove the plastic ring around the swing set, clean it out, and plant sod. I would love to add some picnic shelters with tables in an empty area. Of course, I’d like to see a paved walking trail around the park, replace some benches, and add an accessible swing.”
Did we mention Recreation Park has a nature trail? Under Peeples’ leadership, a nature trail, which had become overgrown with bamboo and weeds, was discovered. Completely inaccessible to the community and mostly forgotten about, Peeples and other parks and recreation leaders set out to uncover the lost gem. Located behind Recreation Park, the nature trail winds through woods and wetlands — complete with a wooden bridge. Restoring the trail will add even more value to the only county park and the lives of its residents and visitors.
“I’m a lover of the outdoors, so hearing that they rediscovered a nature trail is exciting and hopeful for Hampton County,” said Stanley. “I hope this small bit of funding from us will inspire them to reach for the stars and apply for other funding opportunities to help complete their vision.”
Working with the faith-based community to increase access to healthy choices and opportunities is a strategy that Wholespire staff knows well. Churches and other faith-based settings provide opportunities to implement policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change that can have a positive impact on population health.
Over the past three years, Wholespire partnered with the 7th District African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and its Young People’s Division (YPD) to implement The HYPE Project. Through a competitive application process, all churches in the 7th District with an active YPD were invited to apply for a mini-grant to implement healthy eating and/or active living strategies. Funded by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC), The HYPE YPD Project also required that participating YPDs implement injury prevention strategies.
Over the life of the SC DHEC funding, Wholespire and the 7th District AME Church supported 306 youth contacts from 22 AME churches in 11 counties. Youth in the Young People Division (YPDers) positively impacted the lives of their congregations by completing projects such as:
Community/Church Gardens,
Church Health Bulletins,
Safety Signage,
Handrails,
Community/Church Walking Clubs,
Walking Trails, and
Creating/improving Outdoor Recreation Spaces.
Youth advocates at Bethany AME Church in Jonesville, SC build a garden.
The Bethany AME Church garden looking healthy and full of produce.
The Thomas Chapel AM Church HYPE Team in Union, SC, hosts community walks/runs on Saturdays.
The YPDers also collectively passed over 60 healthy eating and active living policies at their churches. Policies focused on offering water, fruit, and vegetables when meals are served, including physical activity in services and meetings, and removing saltshakers from tables in church dining halls.
“This impressive accomplishment is an indication that church leadership, who must approve policies, are supportive of healthy change and that they are invested in the health of their congregants,” said Trimease K. Carter, manager of youth engagement at Wholespire. “Sixty policies across 11 churches is huge, and it was youth-led.”
Wholespire encourages HYPE teams to connect with local partners for additional resources and assistance that can leverage funding. Many YPD teams partnered with local organizations for technical support. Organizations such as the South Carolina Department of Education’s Farm to Table, SC DHEC, and SNAP-Ed provided helpful advice, tips, printed material, and strategies for implementing projects.
“Oftentimes, we are making decisions that affect our youth. It seems obvious to get youth leaders connected with our partners and let them help lead the direction of community health improvement efforts,” said Carter. “We feel like connecting youth with our chapters and partners is a win-win for everyone.”
YPD teams haven’t been without their challenges. COVID-19 posed great challenges for YPDers because of church closings, canceled group meetings, and other restrictions. They had to identify projects that could be safely implemented. Through their projects, youth were also able to support efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. Most were able to provide personal protective equipment (e.g., masks, hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray, and wipes) and share prevention tips with their congregations.
The Brown Chapel AME Church HYPE Team in Columbia, SC, revitalized a neighborhood basketball court.
A young man at Brown Chapel AME Church paints the basketball court.
St. Paul AME Church (Shaw) in Sumter, SC, completed a church garden.
The Final Round
The Jeter AME Church HYPE Team in Carlisle, SC, plants a garden.
The final round of funding ended in September 2021 with eight YPD teams being selected. Five of these were returning teams and three were new teams. The returning YPDers focused on expanding, maintaining, and promoting their existing projects. For example, one church hosted a Reshape your Diet and Witness the Fitness event to promote policy, systems, and environmental changes that were established in the previous years of their project.
The newly selected teams were able to identify, plan, and implement projects through this opportunity. According to one HYPE Project Advisor, “The financial support removed a large barrier in making the vision a reality.”
Wholespire was honored to work with historical Mother Emanual AME Church in Charleston, a newly selected team. Mother Emanual AME Church experienced tragedy in 2015 when a self-acclaimed white supremacist took the lives of nine members attending Bible study. The YPDers posted signs about general kitchen safety, passing healthy eating and active living policies, stress management, and body positivity. Their YPDers also hosted monthly group walks near the church.
The safety and injury prevention component during the final round of funding was addressed in many different forms. One team focused on practicing safety before, during, and after physical activity by warming up, cooling down, staying hydrated, and recognizing the signs of heat exhaustion. Other teams promoted safety through the use of safe recreational signage, kitchen safety signage, no firearms guns/weapons signage, and lighting in outdoor recreational spaces. Additionally, one HYPE YPD Team worked on clearing a sidewalk for the community to use. Residents expressed gratitude for clearing the sidewalk, with one stating that she can now “walk without fear of being hit by a car on the road.”
As with other Wholespire mini-grant opportunities, YPDers were encouraged to leverage funds. One church applied for a Healthy Eating, Active Living mini-grant from Wholespire and received $4,900.00 to expand their project. Their initial project included the creation of a walking trail. With these new funds, they will be able to repair and upgrade their basketball and baseball areas and add playground equipment. Wholespire plans on connecting this group to the SC DHEC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, & Obesity Prevention for consultation on an open community use policy.
Youth Engagement Benefits
When we think of youth engagement, we think of youth engaging in advocacy campaigns or with community coalitions. The HYPE Project teaches youth to engage in healthy eating and active living projects. Church leaders have shared many benefits from participating in the HYPE YPD Project. They report that youth have become more engaged within the church and church activities. An adult advisor said, “Some of our youth were not very active within the church and this gave them the opportunity to step outside of their box.”
YPDers are also engaging with older adults within their congregation by getting them to help with activities like gardening, clearing fields, and packing mulch. One adult advisor said, “We had adults and senior citizens help out and it gave them something to do!”
This opportunity has also helped youth to be more conscious about physical activity and what they are eating and drinking. They are also sharing and stressing the importance of these things with their families, congregations, and communities. YPDers have hosted ribbon-cutting, field day, and kickoff events, as well as health fairs. One team’s project even led to their church starting a community faith walk.
Working with the 7th District AME Church and YPDers to address healthy eating, active living, and safety across communities in South Carolina has been an impactful partnership. Not only have the youth and church leaders learned about PSE change and its effectiveness, but Wholespire staff learned about the structure of the AME church and the appropriate channels to make change happen.
In February 2019, the University of South Carolina Lancaster (USCL) applied for a Let’s Go! 3.0 mini-grant to increase access to its outdoor recreation amenities by adopting an open community use policy and to continue its active community environments work with Wholespire Lancaster County, formerly Eat Smart Move More Lancaster County.
The partners had completed several community health improvement projects that increased access to healthy opportunities. The mini-grant would help complete their vision while focusing on the Clinton community, a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) in the City of Lancaster. QOZs are characterized as economically distressed communities defined by the census tract.
Existing projects that needed to be completed were:
Improvement of the built environment in the Clinton neighborhood by extending bike lanes and crosswalks and offering a loop to the Lindsay Pettus Greenway, which improved access to the USCL campus.
USCL public health students conducted an assessment on student on-campus walking behaviors. They used the data to develop walking routes for anyone to utilize while on campus.
USCL’s recreation facilities were open to the public (including trails, walking routes, tennis courts, picnic pavilion, 5K starting point, bike lanes, and crosswalks). However, the promotion of these facilities has been limited to word-of-mouth.
The Gregory YMCA began managing the operations of the University-owned recreation facility. USCL secured funding for the YMCA to provide sliding scale financial assistance to income-eligible YMCA members on a long-term, sustained basis. Approximately 400 Lancaster residents utilize this benefit from the YMCA, many of whom live in the nearby Clinton community.
Let’s Go 3.0 mini-grant funds were used to:
Hire a professional designer to create a campus map of outdoor recreational facilities open to the public, which included the student-design walking routes.
Purchase and install way-finding signs that promote the open use amenities and walking routes.
Promote the open community use agreement policy to the community. Promotional strategies included issuing a press release to The Lancaster News, posting the press release on USCL’s website and social media, and announcing the existence and availability of these community resources at USCL’s student orientation and Clinton Elementary School’s Parent Night.
Purchase bike racks for the Lindsay Pettus Greenway trailhead in the Clinton community and the USCL campus.
Initial Challenges
For USCL, the challenge wasn’t creating new opportunities for physical activities, it was promoting the ones they already had. The USCL campus has seven buildings, a YMCA in the physical education building, tennis courts, and about a mile and a half of natural path trails.
“We’re very community-oriented, and there’s a lot of word-of-mouth advertising. This is how a lot of small towns, small communities go. We just assume that people know things, but we’re only reaching our own social circles,” explained Lauren Vincent Thomas, professor of health promotion education and behavior at USCL.
The first step was passing an open community use agreement. “When we learned about the Let’s Go 3.0 mini-grant to promote and pass an open community use agreement, I felt like we kind of already had it, we just hadn’t set it as a policy,” said Thomas. “In reality, people use the trail and the tennis court IF they know that they can, but it wasn’t widely known information.”
During the initial conversation with university leadership, they said people already knew about the trails. Convincing them that the project had value was most of the battle with the project. According to Thomas, “Wholespire had this great manual that answered all of my questions. I felt very equipped and confident when the Education Foundation asked about liability.”
A Snowball Affect
Before this project moved to the next steps, debris that was dumped in front of trails was cleared. “It just sent a message that we didn’t care about the campus,” Thomas said while explaining how things like debris deterred people from using the trails. “After that, it was just about updating some features and showing what the campus had to offer. The website was updated, billboards with maps were placed in prime positions, and trail markers and entrances were added.”
Once the project was started, more opportunities were uncovered. “We found money to put split rail fencing up to show off the trail and leveraged funding from another grant to put bike racks in, and we worked with the South Carolina Wildlife Federation to certify that we had a wildlife habitat,” said Thomas. “It reminded us of what we had and gave us the opportunity to share with other people.”
Thomas’ favorite part of the project has been connecting with people who are readily willing to offer their own gifts, talents, and resources.
“We just needed to give them the opportunity and generously thank them for what they offer. For example, we partnered with, an organization in our community that builds ADA ramps for seniors and people who have disabilities, to build a new bridge on one of the trails. They were willing to do this project for us for free as long as they got the credit. There is so much creative generosity in our community. Now, our partners feel like the trails are just as much theirs as it is USC Lancaster’s and that’s exactly what we want.”
New Conversations
The students on campus have been enjoying the positive changes the project brought. The picnic shelter has seen new light now that people know it’s there and university organizations have been enjoying the cleared trails. An outdoor club put in geocaches and monitors them to add new prizes and F3, a male CrossFit group, uses the trails for Saturday morning runs.
The project has also affected conversations about the university’s 10-year Master Plan. “This mini-grant project has primed us to have that bigger conversation about walkability in our community,” said Thomas. “There is a four-lane highway between USC Lancaster’s campus and downtown Lancaster that could benefit from a crosswalk or pedestrian bridge!”
Thomas is hoping this project is the start of making the community more bike- and pedestrian-friendly.
In Spring 2021, GoForth Recovery in Spartanburg found out about the Let’sGo! South Carolina 3.0 mini-grant opportunity offered by Wholespire, formerly Eat Smart Move More South Carolina. They needed an outdoor fitness area to provide residents, family members, and those in the Spartanburg community with a dedicated multi-use area to enhance the recovery journey and stimulate active living.
Changing unhealthy habits isn’t easy for anyone, especially those who suffer from addiction. And oftentimes, individuals who enter a recovery program like GoForth Recovery cannot afford a gym membership or even leave the premises for physical activity. Having a resource like an onsite basketball court allows residents a way to handle their stress and anxiety, while also providing a place for social interaction with their family, friends, and even the community. So, they applied for a mini-grant and received it!
Balancing Life and Making it Healthy
A basketball court may seem like a small thing, but for the residents at GoForth Recovery, it’s huge. It means a way to be physically active, a place to relieve stress and anxiety, and an activity to do during visits with family and friends.
For the average person, balancing everything life throws at you can be overwhelming, and we often turn to stress eating or some other form of unhealthy coping. For people struggling with addictions, everyday life is even more difficult to handle because they have to relearn how to balance life. GoForth Recovery teaches its residents how to lead a well-balanced and healthy life because when a person in recovery doesn’t adopt healthy habits, they are more likely to relapse. To help prevent relapse, GoForth Recovery provides classes on everything from money management and how to shop with a list to healthy eating and active living.
“Most guys who come in…no one has ever shown them how to have a good, balanced, healthy life. What does healthy look like,” explained Brian Naylor, executive director at GoForth Recovery. “We talk about seven hours of sleep, eating six times a day, what does healthy mean. If I’m getting enough sleep, eating right, and exercising, then I’m more likely to stay in recovery. Nutrition and physical activity is key.”
Naylor explained that their house is a healthy house. He’s witnessed guys turn their lives around and go full force into taking care of their bodies. “It’s amazing to see the success of these guys. When I say guys are drinking shakes at night, I’m watching them use kale, strawberries, bananas, and protein powder; and six months ago, they were shooting meth. That’s healthy. That’s recovery.”
The Power of Community
Before the project began.
Initially, the plan called for clearing enough land for the basketball court, but the vision soon grew to clear an entire lot to make room for future additions, like a pavilion and a playground for residents’ children and visitors.
With any healthy eating and active living project, leveraging funds play an important role in the magnitude and success of the end product. GoForth Recovery had an ambitious job to complete with only $3,500 from Wholespire, which, according to Naylor, only covered about half of the actual costs of the basketball court.
“We were able to get it done for next to nothing, except for gas. We had people donate equipment. We had guys who could operate it. We’re hauling off stuff to the dump. We had the City that donated their time, and they came and filled five or six truckloads of trees and debris.”
Word got out to various community members, businesses, partners, and associates about the basketball court project and the need for help with one slightly large unbudgeted item — dirt, 20 tons of dirt.
“After we graded the land, it required dirt because the land is low. The court system in Spartanburg was demolishing their old courthouse to build a garage. Word got out that we needed dirt. We also had a resident who was working for a local home builder. So for one week, there were close to 30 truckloads…and I’m talking about thousands and thousands of dollars of donations that were coming in. So just the dump trucks and the liability and the dirt, we were able to raise the land .”
Because of GoForth Recovery’s connections and the connections of their residents, they were able to leverage more than $10,000 in in-kind donations and complete their project. As Coretta Scott King once said, “ The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”
Sharing is Caring
Since the completion of the basketball court, Naylor has witnessed increased activity among its residents. Duke Energy installed a light, so the guys take advantage of nighttime hoops.
“We have other people from the recovery community show up to play basketball because there isn’t any other place to go, plus it’s a safe place,” said Naylor. “We have meetings on-site that are open to the public, so after a meeting, people will go outside to congregate and shoot baskets.”
GoForth Recover also shares their new court with a local boys’ home, located one street behind the residence. “They’re over there playing every day on our court. It’s been a good bridge between us and them because we’ve been able to invite them to things like devotion, breakfasts, and some of our group outings — all because of this basketball court.”
In the end, GoForth Recovery got their community basketball court and already prepared space for future additions. But, it didn’t happen without challenges. From tree stump removal, scheduling with partners, debris removal, grading, and weather, their residents rallied behind them and used their connections, skills, and experiences to see the project through to the end.
“The challenges we encountered resulted in an incredible groundswell of resident unity, partner engagement, community involvement, and generous companies that helped us build a community basketball court, which far exceeded our vision in quality when we applied for our initial grant funding from Wholespire,” said Naylor.
GoForth Recovery, a non-profit organization established in 2018, is a men’s addiction recovery program and residential transitional living home for alcoholics and drug addicts. Their six-month residential program provides housing and a structured environment that allows alcoholics and addicts to recover from a hopeless and helpless state of mind and body. Their primary goal is to enable the resident to take responsibility for their recovery and build the foundation for them to be a productive member of their community.
Before
Clearing the land
The City of Spartanburg and a local home builder donated 20 tons of dirt.
In 2020, Wholespire Richland County, formerly Eat Smart Move More Richland County, collaborated with Koinonia of Columbia and the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) to support a local community garden. The community garden was funded by SCDHEC and demonstrated the idea of community and unity by taking a collaborative approach to fulfill the mission that Koinonia of Columbia, an asset-based community development non-profit in the Eau Claire community, had proposed.
The Midlands Community Systems Team at SCDHEC worked with the Central Midlands Council of Governments to provide grant funding to Wholespire Richland County for healthy eating initiatives. Funds supported the Koinonia’s expansion of 8 garden beds to twelve beds, along with supplies for building, gardening, and education.
Tecoria Jones, program manager at Koinonia, is responsible for gardening maintenance and educational programming. She says they intend to continue providing hands-on learning through gardening as part of their afterschool curriculum. “Koinonia is so appreciative to have been a recipient of the Wholespire Richland County funding. We are thankful for the growth in the children and in the community this opportunity has presented.”
It Takes a Village
Children from the Eau Claire Community learn how to plant a garden.
A few years ago, the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) of Lenoir-Rhyne University began its partnership with the Koinonia to install the first raised beds. Since then, neighboring families, LTSS staff, and volunteers have grown vegetables in the gardens and sold the produce as a fundraiser for Transitions Homeless Center in Columbia. Students of an LTSS ethics class joined in on the collaboration after learning about asset-based community development from Koinonia staff and board members. They also learned gardening through a hands-on harvesting event with children. Ethics students also have participated in Koinonia’s mentoring and afterschool programming.
“As a Christian seminary, our partnership with Koinonia demonstrates a theology that upholds a healing connection to land, food, and neighbors. When we grow good food together, we demonstrate what God’s beloved community can look like in action,” said Dr. Melanie Dobson, assistant professor.
Dr. Dobson went on to explain the partnership allows LTSS to practice being a good neighbor, both in the sharing of land as a resource and in building relationships with local children.
Breaking Ground and Expanding
Wheelchair-accessible garden beds.
In March 2020, Wholespire Richland County, Koinonia and LTSS broke ground on the educational garden expansion. With the approval from LTSS leadership, Koinonia was able to map out and design a layout for the future beds. The funding supported the building of two 12’x4’ beds and two 4’x4’ wheelchair-accessible beds. Wholespire Richland County members, Koinonia staff, and LTSS staff and students rolled their sleeves up to help build the proposed beds.
On Earth Day 2021, Koinonia kids did their spring garden planting. Kids planted herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, peppers, and squash to the existing spinach, cabbage, and collard green plants.
In Summer 2021, Koinonia is hosting Freedom School, a culture-specific framework sponsored by the Children’s Defense Fund. The children of Koinonia will be seeing themselves in every book they read at Freedom School.
“We will be spotlighting and celebrating black culture. Watching and talking about how things evolve will be an essential conversation,” explained Jones.
The garden will also provide learning opportunities like agriculture, water cycle, ecosystems, and entrepreneurship.
Finishing Touches
Select Health of South Carolina donated a bench for the garden.
Select Health of South Carolina (SHSC), the oldest and largest Medicaid Care organization in South Carolina for over 26 years, got on board and donated a garden bench to support the continuity of community’s mission for sustainable, healthy communities.
“It was our deepest pleasure to support Wholespire Richland County on the 2021 project at Koinonia’s Community Garden, which hosted the Spring Garden Planting on Earth Day,” said Addie Bors, SHSC director of community education and outreach.
Impact of Community Gardens
One of the several tomato plants for the garden.
Community gardens bring positive activity to neighborhoods. They provide a source of fresh, affordable and local produce. Some produce is donated to the community and used in educational and nutritional cooking programs. This garden is an excellent learning tool in Koinonia’s afterschool program. The gardens will provide access to nature, healthy food, green infrastructure, and ecological restoration for the community.
“We are thankful for all of our coalition members and community partners. It is our hope that these children will start having a natural love of gardening. We would love to see their enthusiasm spill over into other school subjects that are related to the garden, like science, art and math,” said TQ Davis, Wholespire Richland County chair.
If you are interested in learning more or joining Wholespire Richland County, please visit our website.
Koinonia of Columbia is a asset-based community development non-profit in the Eau Claire community. Founded by Kelly and David Strum, Koinonia of Columbia sees the power of nature as equally important in the growth and development of children and the village around them. They aim to provide a fruitful and robust nation of good citizens, and they believe children are key to the future.
