More on CRAFT

So, continual contact and research is underway. While doing the write-up for class on the CRAFT model, I was able to identify some informal and formal ways of making contact and conducting research. While hanging out in Mart and informally meeting people with Paula and other students, it was great to see how "research" can be done by just sitting and listening.

The action phase of CRAFT for us was probably making the design proposal for the library board. It will take some time for us to actually start the garden or artwork. A lot more needs to be done before that can happen like creating a feasibility and implementation plan. I think we have been getting feedback from community members (library board, high school students) about what kinds of changes they'd like to see in Mart and how involved they want to get. We were able to engage in some teaching (last phase of CRAFT) last Monday, when we presented a power point to the high school students regarding the Mart Community Project and how they could participate. This wasn't actually teaching skills we'd already learned from a completed project, but teaching at every and any phase of CRAFT is important, in my view. Plus, what community project is ever really complete?

Third Mile & the CRAFT Model

Our third trip to Mart was a great success! Rising before the break of dawn, we made our way to Mart at 6:30 in the morning, getting there just in time for our presentation to the high-schoolers during their leadership period at 8:45. Unfortunately, Amy was sick and wasn't able to join us. So, there we were - me, Adrianne and Jen (a super cool doctoral student at UT interested in the Mart Community Project). Adrianne and I showed our power point and gave our schpeal about the exciting new things to look forward to in Mart, especially the creation of a community garden commons. We gave an example of the Peralta Community Garden in Berkeley, California. We also went into "volunteering, why it's cool?" and the various ways they can get involved in this garden project in the future. I think we had a total of about 10-12 high schoolers turn up. They seemed very open and excited to the idea. When asked what kind of changes they'd like to see in their community, they insightfully identified several things. One student said she'd like to see more cleanliness in Mart. A few others talked about the number of abandoned buildings downtown and how they'd like to see them restored. It seemed like these kids really cared about their community. During the high school lunch hour, we returned to the school and informally met with the students. We were delighted to find students approach us and ask what we were up to. We really had encouraging discourses with these young, bright and respectful kids. An interesting observation we made was that it was mostly black students who were outspoken and readily came up to us with questions and curiosity. We hope to be in Mart during homecoming on October 29th, with other students from the writing for non-profits class. It should be fun!

Around 10 am, we met up with Sue Ann, the hippest grandma and member of the library board. Sitting on metal chairs outside the Co-op and taking in the beautiful fall air, we discussed our project along with the happenings at Pie Lab, an initiative of Project M in Greensboro, Alabama. She voiced the other members' concern about budget and upkeep. Their main worry was that as soon as the conceptual plan would be approved, we'd go in there with our shovels, start digging, make a mess and then leave. We had to assure her (and through her the others) that we would not move forward without adequate research and an implementation plan. We'll find out by early November, hopefully, if the plan is approved.

Another highlight was driving around Mart and visiting the two separate cemeteries - the black one and the white. The disparity was vast and astonishing. The black cemetery, located in black folks town of course, was overgrown and poorly maintained. It seemed there just weren't enough resources and money to keep the place neat and respectable. Janet, Paula's adult niece and Mart resident, showed us an area hidden around a corner that had been basically turned into a dump site. Certain folks who didn't want to spend the money or the time to take their crap to a proper dump site had just dumped it there. It was ridiculous and offensive. The white cemetery, in contrast, was well kept and quite large in area. They had a proper tool shed with tools and a lawnmower. I couldn't believe that in this day and age, two separate race based cemeteries still existed!

In terms of the CRAFT model, I would say we are still in the contact and research phase. The next steps for us would be to do further research on resources for this project, mostly around funding and volunteering.

CRAFT model: Contact

The first step in the CRAFT model is Contact: cultivating trust, mutual understanding and commitment as a foundation for creative partnership.

I think our community garden/commons group have been continuing to establish communication and mutual understanding with everyone involved in our project. So far, we have met with some members of the library board and others (like Jack Holder, master gardener) twice. We are trying to keep the communication line open through emails in between meetings. Last week, we also met with principals of both the high school and middle school at Mart. We will be trying to join with the high school students on Monday and cultivate contact with them for our project. We are very excited to do this! Will keep you posted on future developments!

Mart Commons-Garden Flyer

The Journey Continues (Second Mile)

On October 4th, a group of us (community gardens/commons group and the co-op group) made our second trip to Mart. We left at around 8am and just barely made it to our 10am meeting at the co-op with individuals invested in both our projects. During the meeting, Adrianne, Amy and I presented our first draft of the garden/commons design to a few members of the board and Jack Holder, the master gardener. Personally, I have mixed feelings about the meeting and the expectations of the board members. All in all, I think it went well. We received some feedback about our draft and the changes they'd like to see. Jack was the most vocal and his input was highly appreciated. The two board members seemed to be focused on the maintenance aspect of the garden. In my head, I was thinking, "One thing at a time. Let's pace ourselves." The most pressing matter at this point is getting the board members to vote and pass the proposal to create a garden/commons space at the library. We also want to generate community excitement about this space and try to get folks of all ages involved in this project. For this reason, we met with the principals of both the high school and middle school last Monday. During this meeting, I got the sense that the schools were interested in getting their kids involved, although they seemed to have a lot on their plate at this point, with sports and other events to prepare for. The principal of the high school, LouAnn Wolf, allowed us a time to meet with the high schoolers this coming Monday to create some awareness about this project. We are looking forward to connecting with the students there and possibly getting their support.

This past week, we were able to create a revised draft of the garden design. Also, we created a flyer that we sent to the high school. I thought maybe you guys would like to take a look. NOTE: Since I couldn't upload pdf file images to this page, I posted the revised draft and the the flyer as new posts through scribd.

Cheers!

Revised Plan