Green Visions

The Allyn’s Creek Garden Club, which I joined a few years ago, helps fund scholarships for Green Visions, under the Greentopia umbrella. We knew about the project in theory, but in September, we finally scheduled a group trip to one of their gardens, on Whitney Street, in the JOSANA neighborhood (the other is on Joseph Avenue, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy). 

Morgan and Tiani explaining the program

Morgan Barry, the coordinator, gave an overview of the garden, and invited us to walk around and admire the beautiful flowers still in bloom in late September. Morgan graduated from the RCSD, and although he had no gardening experience, he leapt at the opportunity to give back to the community through Green Visions. He also introduced us to Tiani Jennings, who started in the program when she was 17, and has since earned her GED. 

This is the seventh year of Green Visions, a workforce development program targeted to 18-21 year old at-risk youth in the neighborhood. In that time, close to 100 young adults have graduated the program, 11 of whom have transitioned to work or college. The program provides a diverse training, not just in gardening. The participants learn to make bouquets to professional standards, are involved in customer service, and sell directly at the Rochester Public Market. They work a 3.5 hour shift in the morning or afternoon, and make $30/day, so can earn up to $3300 in a season. The retention rate year to year is 85%; an in-neighborhood program means the participants can walk to work, so are more likely to be consistent. 

Another facet of the program involves staffing with the developmentally disabled; currently approximately one-fifth of the staff have development disabilities. While many of the flowers are grown on-site from seed or bulb, the program also works with School 17 and Edison Tech to pre-grow some of the flowers in greenhouses. The Dahlia Society recently donated dahlia bulbs (the program learned a lesson about bulb storage, when they discovered the bulbs they had over-wintered in their shed rotted). The flowers are grown without herbicides or pesticides, and the gardens use 30 tons of compost every year. 

Normally, their flower arrangements are available at Wegman’s, but weren’t this year because of the late spring start (bad weather) and other demand. They take orders for arrangements for parties, and are always looking for donations of vases (particularly glass mason jars). This was their most successful year in flower sales – they netted a whopping $7000 (as with most non-profit organizations, sale of the product only makes a dent in covering operating costs).

the neighboring house to be purchased

the new shipping container for storage

At the time of our visit, they had just purchased a new shipping container, for storing supplies, and they were in the process of closing on a neighboring house. The house will provide shelter from inclement weather, and also much needed toilet facilities. They still need to raise about $100,000 for renovations to the house, including an ADA-compliant ramp. They will then be able to provide year-round training and support to the participants.

a monarch butterfly finally
paused for a photo

The program is truly inspiring and inspired, and should be a model for other parts of the city, as well as other cities with at-risk neighborhoods.