Sacred Suds - Garden of Hope

Taken from the Summer 2006 Newsletter

It began as many things do around here: in a conversation accompanied by the rush of water pouring into a washing machine and the soft thumping of clothes spinning in a dryer; a few neighbors talking together about the neighborhood. A simple question had inspired the conversation: “What’s one thing we could do that would make this neighborhood better?”
It brought many of the neighbors around the table back to a different age. “This neighborhood used to be different. We used to know each other and watch out for each other.”

“Yeah,” commented another. “I can remember when I was a kid, if I was doing something I shouldn’t be doing,, there were so many ‘mama’s’ on the block, that I’d always get in trouble. First by one of the neighbor ‘mamas’ and then by my own.” Everyone laughed, and then shared their own “getting a whippin’ twice ‘round” story.

“I miss the neighborliness that we used to feel. Don’t you remember? We used to have these parties with the whole block. We’d block off the street and have games for the kids, lots of good food. It was a good time.”

As the memories were shared, we started thinking about ways that we—all of us sitting around the table—could contribute to making the neighborhood the way we wanted it to be. One neighbor quickly identified the issue: “The problem is that people don’t know each other so well now. We got to make it so that we all get out of our houses and start talkin’ again. We got to do something together, like plant a garden or something.”

That was the conversation as I remember it. The garden idea had traction with all of the neighbors that were at Sacred that day. A Garden Steering Committee was formed and neighbors took their spots on it, as their interests, skills, and time allowed. Four subcommittees were formed: Planning and Design, Governance, Fundraising, and Events Planning. We met regularly for 3 months before even getting our hands in the dirt. Preparations and negotiations with the City (The City of Muskegon owns the property and has shown great support of this project—THANK YOU!!)), as well as other groups, had to be made and it was not until May 19th, that anything on the block actually looked different. Today, if you drive to the intersection of Terrace and Larch, you will be welcomed by a large colorful sign which reads “Garden of HOPE” behind which you will see tiny seedlings popping up above the surface of the soil. You will probably also see several neighbors in the garden weeding or watering or resting in a space that once was filled with weeds, broken bottle,s and potato chip bags. A space once neglected, now transformed into a space of peace and hope.

In the non-profit world, buzzwords such as empowerment” and “community ownership” are dropped, thrown, and batted about so often that these words have almost lost their meaning. The words represent values which everyone in the “helping field” holds, but the words so rarely get translated into reality that some of us—especially the idealists who hold on to the notion that empowerment of individuals and communities can happen—may get discouraged.

The Garden of HOPE has given this idealist a reason to believe again. Just think of it: a small gathering of neighbors—many of them labled by larger society as “disenfranchised,” “poor,” or “disabled”—coming up with a shared vision for their neighborhood, and becoming the solution to a problem they identified.

Sacred Suds as an organization, then, is just a catalyst to get things moving. You all, as donors and supporters, also serve as catalysts by helping us resource the things that our neighbors identify as issues. We are not the do-ers. Rather we walk alongside, and maybe one step behind, always allowing the neighbors to take the lead, so that in the end, they get the credit and the praise and the pride for being the RESTORERS, the REBUILDERS of their neighborhood. Reminds you of a story in Nehemiah, doesn’t it?