How a simple act brought the community closer
9 years ago the community was a bit more quiet than it is today. The neighborhood was known as a place where many families below the poverty line would end up finding a home. Driving past the schools and houses in the neighborhood you can see just how old some of the buildings are near Grant Beach.
9 years ago Shelly Vaugine walked through the neighborhood, searching for the owner of a small kitten she had found stuck in a tree. Door to door she knocked and met her neighbors one by one. each time it seems she would hear the same story.
Many of her neighbors were struggling to make ends meet. Some were working multiple jobs at a time, others barely making due with their rents and other expenses and many without income at all. Shelly went home that day 9 years ago and committed her self to helping those around her.
A friend of hers reminded her of a skill she had recently learned, gardening. Shelly had been gardening from home and saving herself money on groceries with her own fresh produce. This idea soon sprung into action as Shelly began telling her neighbors about her plan, A community garden for the neighborhood to share.
it would be 5 years before the first crop was put in the ground, but the community would tell you better late than never. After receiving a call from Maile Auterson who was looking for a project to take on in the area brought her colleague Matt Boehner and began work on a community garden.
Today the garden as brought the community together in ways some residents couldn't have imagined 10 years ago. The project has given the people there opportunities to get to know each other and work for one another towards improving their neighborhood.
Members of the food garden are welcome to harvest from the crop on the monthly harvest days, and all it costs is a 1 dollar per year membership fee and 2 hours a month spent working in the garden.
This has changed the lives of many people in Grant Beach Neighborhood, and the community development from the Garden has trickled down into other parts of the block as well. With the whole area working together on the garden they are able to divide the food amongst one another fairly, and even host cookouts and community events with donations from board members of their neighborhood association.
what started as a small act from Shelly Vaguine of returning a lost cat has ended up growing a community into one of the strongest and most well known in all of Springfield. at the Hovey house the community garden is always welcoming helping hands from in or outside the community to care for the gardens and participate in its food harvest and block parties and Id say its a great place to stop by and meet some friendly faces.
