Chatham-Kent Housing Services has been partnering with local farmers to provide public housing residents with access to fresh produce.
The Chatham-Kent Public Health Community Garden Program received enough donations to provide 10 housing locations with produce. Donations have ranged from vegetable plants, fresh vegetables, pumpkins, to garden fertilizer.
“The gardens provide so many benefits beyond just allowing public housing residents access to fresh produce," stated Lyndsay Davidson, a registered dietitian with CK Public Health, in a news release. "They allow people of all ages to meet their neighbours by working together to provide something they can all be proud of and grow an even greater sense of community."
According to the release, the donated locations had at least five tenants in the building interested in maintaining the garden.
"In some buildings, tenants choose to take a plot within the garden and in others, such as one of the locations, children are participating in the gardens they have chosen to share the entire garden and work on the garden and harvest together," said Kristen Williams, tenant relation manager with housing services for CK.
Each location can house anywhere from 35 to 120 tenants, who all have access to the community gardens.
"One tenant commented that, before she had the garden to spend time in, she rarely left her apartment," said Williams. "She is excited about how many people she has met through gardening."
Williams said the program would like to expand to canning and preserving a portion of the harvest in the future. To date, three local farmers have donated to the community garden program.