Sowing hope in Moncton neighbourhood after months of adversity
A garden operated by community group provides a tranquil oasis
Christine Taylor is looking forward to sitting in the shade this summer, next to a fish pond under a pergola in the newly renovated garden at the Peter McKee Community Food Centre in Moncton.
"This is what the community needs," said the general manager of the centre.
The garden has been a fixture behind the centre for the past six years and is filled with dozens of garden boxes used to grow fresh produce for the food bank and rented by people in the community to grow fruits, vegetables and flowers.
But after months of turmoil while a homeless shelter operated next door at the Moncton Lions Community Centre, Taylor decided it was time to create a space that was more than just a place to grow food. She and her staff set out to provide "beauty, safety, and tranquillity in an urban setting."
"This area has gone through a hard time the last few months," she said. "We've been plagued with a lot of negativity."
The City of Moncton used the Lions centre in downtown Moncton as a temporary homeless shelter for the winter and spring months.
It opened in December with 100 beds and closed at the end of June.
Taylor said that before the shelter opened, it was common to see people sleeping in a tent underneath a doorstep. "It was heartbreaking to see that."
"We are all very happy that the homeless had a place to sleep at night at the shelter," she said.
Taylor said the first couple of months after the shelter opened was a "transition" period getting used to their new neighbours and their routines, but then the dynamic changed.
She said people from the shelter started loitering outside and coming into the Peter McKee centre.
"That became a problem," she said, because they tried to use drugs inside and there were "a lot more threats of violence."
Taylor said they started seeing "a lot of aggression inside the food bank."
Staff started to find used needles on their property, and feces.
Volunteers at the centre no longer felt safe.
"Many of them were threatened and some were spat on," Taylor said.
Several volunteers said they were considering leaving and not coming back. "We don't need this," they told her. "We're sorry but we just can't do this for our own safety."
"If we lose our volunteers, we might as well shut the doors because we don't have the money to pay people," she said. "We only have four paid staff and I'm one of them."
Taylor said the centre is also managing a significant increase in the number of clients coming to the food bank.
A year ago, the food bank served about 80 clients a day. Taylor said they now serve 160 clients a day, including senior citizens, immigrants and refugees with young families.
"It's not always a pleasant environment because you have some people that are frustrated, they don't want to be there to begin with," she said, which adds to the stressful environment.
Taylor said female clients who come from domestic violence situations "usually with some kind of trauma" grew fearful when they saw people from the homeless shelter coming in "screaming, yelling."
"We want to bring it back to a place where people want to come. They feel good. They're happy here," said Taylor.
Angus Dickie is the volunteer co-ordinator for the Peter McKee Community Food Centre. He said it was a "difficult" winter and spring for volunteers and food bank clients who became "nervous" after witnessing overdoses on the property and altercations in their parking lot.
When the manager of the thrift store that operates inside the centre was assaulted, Taylor said they decided to use money from their food budget to pay for full-time security.
"We have to make sure people are safe when they come here," she said.
"It's a tough, tough situation,"Dickie said as he pointed to the tall fence surrounding the community garden. "We're here to help people, not keep them out."
So this summer, the centre is opening the gates of the garden to volunteers, clients and the community.
Volunteers, community groups and staff worked around the clock to prepare the garden for its grand opening last week. They added three new sitting areas, a fish pond, water fountains, garden decorations and colour.
Lots of colour.
Garden boxes that used to be grey are now painted blue, green and yellow.
"We just wanted to do something that would brighten the community," Taylor said. "And just show everybody that we are moving forward."
Taylor asked Cliff Nzombato, garden co-ordinator at the Peter McKee centre, to create a space the centre will be "remembered for."
"So this year we said OK, we're going to maximize everything that we have, so we're gonna go in big," said Nzombato, who has worked in agriculture for 40 year.
He said it is a "privilege" to bring his skills to this garden in Moncton.
Nzombato and his crew started by putting plants in every part of the garden to optimize food growth, with the goal of producing 50,000 pounds of produce. It's an ambitious goal since, two years ago, the garden produced between 700 and 800 pounds of produce.
He said 250 tomato plants will yield approximately 10,000 pounds of tomatoes. This year they have more than 1,600 tomato plants.
Nzombato said the garden is also filled with cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin and potato plants.
He is hopeful the garden will yield enough produce to meet their goal this summer and be known as a place "where we can sufficiently increase production and productivity for our community."
Apart from the significant increase in food production planned for this summer, Nzombato said they have also created an atmosphere that can "channel that ambiance of peace and tranquillity."
He said everything in the garden "synchronizes."
"The flowers, the plants, the bees, the ladybirds, everything sort of comes alive in your presence," said Nzombato.
"You can't come here and be angry. The fish are just enjoying themselves, there's a water fountain, the plants are doing well. Hey, we're looking up."
It's exactly the type of ambiance Taylor had envisioned for the community garden.
Taylor said she wants people to know the Peter McKee Community Food Centre is "not giving up."
"We're not clawing back services. We're not clawing back how we participate in the community."
Taylor said she doesn't want to paint a bad picture about homeless people because "this is not about us versus them."
"It's about how we support everybody," she said. "How do we all live in this community and work together and feel safe and feel good about the community and, you know, help it grow?
"This will be a safe park and garden for people."
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