YWCA Toronto Elm Centre. Minding Our Bodies Knowledge Exchange March 15, 2013 Presented by: Pamela Gawn, Jennifer Dean & Jennie McKnight

Transcription

1 YWCA Toronto Elm Centre Minding Our Bodies Knowledge Exchange March 15, 2013 Presented by: Pamela Gawn, Jennifer Dean & Jennie McKnight

2 YWCA Toronto Toronto s only multi-service agency by, for and about women and girls Offer service in four program areas Housing & Support Employment & Skills Development Girls and Family Programs Advocacy

3 YWCA Elm Centre The largest social housing development in Canada in the past 10 years made up of 300 units of subsidized and affordable women led households 150 units of affordable housing for women 100 rent supplement units of housing for women with mental health issues 50 rent supplement units of housing for families of Aboriginal ancestry

4 Move-in and transition Tenants began moving in to this brand new mixed housing initiative in December of 2011 Community Building starts slowly in such a project as systems, protocols and relationships are developed Minding Our Bodies grant created tangible community building opportunity at a critical time during rent-up

5 Program goals Increase involvement in Community Relationship building among tenants across the three Elm Housing streams Increase engagement in social/mental/physical activities Increase knowledge about the relationship of social/mental/physical activities and emotional wellbeing Increase capacity to prepare easy, affordable, nutritious meals

6 Grounding Ourselves Gardening, Community Kitchen, Community meals and Farm visits Mind-body awareness activities: Restorative Yoga, Qi Gung, Poetry, Self Defense Health/mental health group work to support women with mental health or concurrent disorders improve health-related outcomes

7 Community program activities Plan, Design, Implement a Rooftop Garden Partner with Chick a Biddy Acres to have a Farm Mentor guide the process Community Kitchen using the food from the garden and one farm share of a CSA Invite volunteers to speak about gardens and food health and security and deliver workshops Farm visits to ChickaBiddy Acres CSA to foster community connection and knowledge of sustainable food practices Workshops to promote physical well being Yoga, Cooking for Diabetes, Self Defense, Qi Gung, Concurrent Disorders

8 Partners Chick A Biddy Acres CSA (Community Sustainable Agriculture) Cubit Organic Jean Tweed Centre Anishnawbe Health The Fight Network Volunteers

9 Food as a medium to build leadership, connect and have ownership over lives The initial proposal was to cook food in a community kitchen using the slow cookers and for the tenants to take containers homes Traditional meals were important Tenants shared resources, knowledge and built connection while sharing a healthy meal

10 Starting from scratch in a brand new building Seedlings were started inside in early April. Tenants took turns ensuring that they were kept moist by dividing up the morning and evening spraying by the week. All tenants watched the seedlings sprout and were inspired!

11 Community Input and Skill Sharing Garden design, types of plants grown, system of maintenance were all planned by the Community. Watering and weeding schedule developed by the tenants in workshops A tenant who works at the Fight Network planned and facilitated a self defense for women workshop Tenants determined food access was important for the entire building including those not involved in the garden The Winona rooftop was planned as a culturally specific herb garden that incorporated Aboriginal medicinal herbs Tenants are starting to lead the Community Kitchen workshops and choose Recipes and

12 Participant s Personal Perspectives Returning to familiar times: growing up with gardens Soaking of seeds, planting, watering Camaraderie: taking turns watering (tenant maintenance plan) Ate the vegetables from the garden and made stock from greens that went to seed Community kitchen: others contributed and helped cut vegetables to assist each other

13 Personal Perspectives: Mind/Body Awareness and Healing Made friends sitting together, eating food that we grew and made together Community Connection Part of healing: recovering from cancer Qi Gong was gentle, volunteer was patient, physically accessible and helped with mindfulness and stress Poetry -for some it was the first time they wrote a poem, expressive and a way to talk about lives

14 Personal Perspectives: ChickaBiddy Acres Farm Trip Bus trip out of the city and Peterborough Farmers Market Shared a lunch at ChickaBiddy Acres- a meal we had made in Community Kitchen and pot-luck. Went into the fields, interns shared about growing food and we asked questions. Separated the garlic cloves together in a work project Learned about alternative sources for food

15 Personal Perspectives: Health Program gave me a boost after the cancer Previous living included fat, salt and sugar Can be difficult to find community where healthy eating and living happens together. Program brought out my own leadership skills and build confidence Had a base of knowledge about nutrition; more comfortable sharing it. Feel honored that people asked me about things.

16 Farmer Sherry from Chickabiddy Acres CSA

17 Challenges The garden beds ended up being too shallow and were a building design deficiency. Moved to large containers Heat was extremebought fun hats and planted containers indoors and wheeled them up to the roof Outings were hard to planmany who signed up didn t come but others did Rain for one of the farm visits. Purchased ponchos No oven used slow cookers which ended up being fun and user friendly

18 Flexibility is key as changes occurred throughout the program and we adapted as needed Without an oven we used 5 slow cookers for slow food workshops Community meals became more important than having food in the freezer Tenants shared and as we have no oven baked bannock for potluck meals Tenants decided that those who were not able to help prepare food were responsible to help clean up

19 Evaluation: surveys and focus groups 100% of participants said the program had helped them connect with other people Since I am new here, it was nice to meet people; it made me feel as part of the community. I met different kinds of people with different circumstances and have new friends. I made four new friends in the building and reconnected with old friends. Enjoyed the bus ride and sharing a meal and walk with others. A nice way to spark conversations. I have met between 5-10 people. Helped me to have a sense of belonging in the community. New people in the building can feel connected to their community; kids can play together. The way the trip to the farm was structured allowed for many networking opportunities. I ve connected with people in the building. Even when volunteers don t show up we still get together and carry on with teaching together. Today I met twenty new friends in a safe, healthy environment.

20 Outcomes Will select better quality produce when shopping. Learned about gardening: how to grow, prepare garlic for market, grow vegetables. I very much enjoyed learning about organic gardening and food production. Learned which leaves to cook with: parsnip leaves vs. beet leaves. Great to learn about local food, how, where to get it and how to cook it. I m very creative, now mixing new things in old things in a different natural way. Learned how to make vegetarian Ratatouille. Learned how to make a root vegetable salad. Learned how to make squash soup. Learned how to make Alu Gobi. Potluck ideas. Learned how to make soups.

21 23 out of 24 (96%) of participants in the Community Kitchen, Rooftop Garden and Farm Visits evaluation reported they had gained knowledge about how to prepare a healthy meal in their home or related skill.

22 Impacts on Health I feel empowered. Helps me relax, stretch and meditate. It helped with my back pain. Being able to learn benefits of healthy eating. It made me feel a lot better and reminded me of my vegetarian and vegan days. The fresh air at the farm and the farm fresh food made me feel better. The fresh air clears my head. Being in nature is healing/meditative. The air was clean; the walk through the farm was refreshing. [Felt better with] fresh air, healthy food, being in nature with supportive people. Every time new recipes, something new about food. Next Monday I will have a brand new lunch for me and my daughter. I feel so much better and my depression today has lifted. I have more strength to make moves to get away from my abusive boyfriend.

23 FARM VISITS I can breathe better. Living on a fixed income I can t go on trips so this is well appreciated. I feel so much better and my depression today has lifted. I have more strength to make moves to get away from my abusive boyfriend. Accepted, fun, light, lively, appreciated. It made me feel a lot better and reminded me of my vegetarian and vegan days. Feel that eating organic is a much better choice for myself and the planet. Being able to learn benefits of healthy eating. Emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, physically encourages my creativity.

24 Healthy Connections

25 Sustainability Plan We continue to prioritize health and well-being as we collaborate with residents to develop programming Outcomes provide guidance as we build partnerships with other health and community agencies. The Rooftop Garden program is dormant over the winter, but in our budget planning, volunteer recruitment, and partnership development, we will continue to consider this a centerpiece of our community activities. Community Kitchen and Community Meals will be a focus of our ongoing program planning with residents and partners. We are seeking resources through grants, donors and other sources to obtain the food and human resources to continue this program.

26 Resources An Illustrated Guide to Growing Food on Your Balcony, by lara lucretia mrosovsky (mycelium Press, 2011).Contact for distribution. Mumm s Sprouting Seeds seed company with great resources on the how s and why s of home scale sprouting. Accessible Landscapes: Designing for Inclusion, by Phillip S. Evans and Brian Donnelley (San Francisco State University, 1993). How Does Our Garden Grow? A Guide to Community Garden Success, by Laura Berman A how-to guide on starting a community garden