Insurance Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application GATEWAY GREENING GARDEN APPLICATION GROUP INSURANCE GATEWAY GREENING S MISSION IS TO EDUCATE AND EMPOWER PEOPLE TO IMPROVE THEIR COMMUNITIES THROUGH GARDENING AND URBAN AGRICULTURE. ABOUT GATEWAY GREENING Gateway Greening isn t just about gardens and plants. It s about working together to create something beautiful, safer, more colorful neighborhoods for our children; food for the underprivileged and opportunities for the homeless; and a city that embodies our vision of sustainability and hope. We accomplish this through our core programs, which include our Community and Youth Garden programs and The Gateway Greening Farm. We believe that by educating and empowering our community through gardening and urban agriculture, we can continue to grow St. Louis into the city we know it to be. ABOUT THIS APPLICATION Most Gateway Greening supported garden projects have applied with us for support through either our Community Garden or Youth Garden applications, where we award gardening materials to assist in the founding of those projects. We know that there are many wonderful garden projects that have been started independent of Gateway Greening. This application serves as a tool for us to get to know your garden project as well as a vetting tool to ensure that your project meets the requirements for Gateway Greening s Liability Insurance Pool G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 1
Insurance Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application LIABILITY INSURANCE POOL If you are pursuing a community or youth garden project on St. Louis City owned property, you are going to be required to carry liability insurance. If you community group or supporting organization is not able to provide your garden project liability insurance, Gateway Greening has a Liability Insurance Pool that can meet your group s needs PROGRAM DETAILS The City of St. Louis has a Garden Lease Program, where an individual, institution, or community group can lease property from the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) and Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) for gardening projects. This lease is available for $5 for 5 years. If the project is an institution, non-adjacent landowner, or multiple lot leases, the lessee is required to obtain a general liability policy in the sum of $300,000. This includes all community garden projects. Gateway Greening recognizes that it may be a challenge to purchase liability insurance on a individual basis, and when it is found, it may be cost prohibitive for the group or institution to do so. To meet this need, Gateway Greening has worked with our insurance company to put together an insurance pool, where multiple individual garden projects can buy into a shared policy at annual cost of $100. The rate is subject to change based on the size and number of garden projects participating. ELIGIBILITY To be eligible, a garden must have been evaluated and approved by Gateway Greening s Community Garden Program, meeting the community garden criteria, as outlined below:!! The community garden is located on St. Louis Development Corporation, Land Clearance for Redevelopment or, Land Reutilization Authority property.!! Must be an in-network Gateway Greening Garden!! Produce from the garden is used to benefit the community and is not sold for net financial gain, except that sales of the produce may be used to cover the essential costs of the community garden.!! At least ten people agree to tend the garden.!! The garden project is determined to be a sustainable, long-term project that benefits the surrounding community.!! In addition to this application, a site visit with a Gateway Greening staff member is required. INSURANCE COVERAGE The insurance policy covers claims arising from liability due to damage or injury (caused by negligence or acts of omission) during performance of duties or business. An example of such would be a slip and fall caused by negligence. Policy details include: $1 million limit per occurrence, and up to $2 million per policy year. Fire damage (any one fire) - $100,000 Deductible on bodily injury and property damage - $500 G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 2
Insurance Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application PROJECT INFORMATION Community Garden Name: Supporting Organization (if applicable): Garden Project Site Address*: Municipality (Neighborhood if in St. Louis City:) Zip Code of Garden Project*: Ward Number* (if in St. Louis City:) GARDEN LEADERS We require the contact information of at least two Garden Leaders. Garden Leaders are actively responsible for day-to-day maintenance of the garden, communicate with their gardeners on a weekly basis, and serve as the main contact for Gateway Greening about garden resources and events. It is extremely important to give us correct and complete information. Garden Leader 1: Phone: (W) (H) (C) Address: City, State, Zip: Email: What is the best way to reach you? Garden Leader 2: Phone: (W) (H) (C) Address: City, State, Zip: Email: What is the best way to reach you? oog *City of St. Louis Address Locator *U.S. Postal Service Zip Code Lookup http://stlouis-mo.gov/data/address-search/ http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 3
Insurance Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application GROUP INFORMATION Group History: Tell us about your group. Include when, where and why you formed. Gardening Experience: Describe your group s experience with gardening and beautification projects. Leadership Transition: What is your process for choosing new leadership should there be a change, such as when the garden leader moves away? G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 4
Insurance Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application Group Structure: Describe how the two garden leaders will organize and communicate with other gardeners to accomplish your goals. Who will take minutes at garden meetings, organize workdays, maintain current list of gardeners/bed assignments? How will gardeners be notified of workdays and meetings, be informed about Gateway Greening s resources and events? Membership Dues and Garden Budget: Do you plan on charging membership dues? If so how much? Do you have a budget for your garden? If so, please attach a copy to your application. Garden Guidelines: Garden Guidelines are simply the rules or policies that your group writes for your community garden or greening project. Having written Garden Guidelines helps make sure all your members know what is expected of them at your community garden or greening project. Garden Guidelines explain things such as membership dues, bed policies, group work days, watering, pet policies, and any other issue that may come up at your community garden or greening project. As part of your application we require that you submit a copy of your project s Garden Guidelines. Gateway Greening Inc. has example Garden Guidelines from many past projects available upon request if you need help drafting them for your project. Please contact the Director of Administration Sara Wike at 314-588-9600 x113 or email her at sara@gatewaygreening.org if you have any questions about example Garden Guidelines. Community Garden List: On the following page you will find a table for recording all the community gardeners involved with your project. You can use this form or submit your own spreadsheet; Gateway Greening also has an alternative form you may use. If submitting your own spreadsheet, please include all of the information requested on the form on the following page. Gateway Greening is now requesting date of birth, race and ethnicity information. Gateway Greening does not share this information and it is only used for Gateway Greening s research and fundraising efforts. We are using the U. S. Census categories for race and ethnicity, for more information see http://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html. G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 5
Special Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application PROJECT DESCRIPTION Project Description Briefly describe your project below: For what kind of gardening project is you garden? Vegetable Garden Flower Garden Food Pantry Garden Market Garden Tree Planting Small Park Street Project Other: G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 7
Special Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application PROJECT SITE INFORMATION Water: Where is the water source? Land Ownership: Who owns the land? Lot Size: What is the lot size (width and length of the property in feet?) Garden Visibility: Can you see your proposed project from the street? Where is it located in the neighborhood? Can passers-by see the garden? G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 8
Special Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application Current and Future Use: How is the site used now? Are there development plans for the property? Site Condition: What is the current state of the site? Are there weeds, trees, garbage, large objects, playground equipment, benches, etc? PROJECT GOALS Community Need: Why does your community or neighborhood need the proposed project? Community Benefit: What do you hope your community garden or greening project will add to the community and how will it benefit participants? G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 9
Special Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application Long Term Goals and Commitment: What type and length of commitment is your group making to the community garden or greening project? Once established, what are your futures plans for the garden? COMMUNITY RESOURCES Community Resources: Identify organizations, community service agencies, local businesses, block units, neighborhood organizations, youth groups, etc. that will support your project. Indicate how the organization will help with this project Neighboring Gardens: Are there other community gardens in your area that you can network with, share tools and ask each other s help with garden problems and solutions? Please list. G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 10
Special Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application Community Resource Gardens and Library Gardens: In addition to Bell Community Garden, Gateway Greening also supports three Community Resource Gardens: 13 th Street Garden in Old North, Wayside Community Garden in Normandy, and McPherson Community Garden in Skinker- DeBaliviere. We also support two St. Louis County Library Gardens, Prairie Commons Community Garden in Hazelwood and Cliff Cave Community Garden in Oakville. If one of these gardens is near your project, how do you plan to use its services? Gateway Greening Support: Explain why your group will need the support of Gateway Greening? Community Partnership Map: Discover the possibilities for partnerships in your community! A community garden, in order to be successful and sustainable for years to come, must involve the community as a whole. Think of the other community groups, business, churches, non-profits, and civic leaders that all play a role in your community. All of these groups and individuals can contribute to the success of a community garden. These same groups can benefit from having a community garden near them. On the following page is a Community Partnership Map, where you can map the relationships in your community and explain how they benefit your garden project. Only list partners you have actually spoken with. Examples include alderpersons, block captains, neighborhood improvement specialists, neighborhood associations, religious institutions, businesses, non-profits, schools, and many others. G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 11
Special Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application Partner: How do they benefit your garden? Partner: How do they benefit your garden? How does your garden benefit them? How does your garden benefit them? Partner : How do they benefit your garden? How does your garden benefit them? Project Name: Partner: How do they benefit your garden? How does your garden benefit them? Partner: How do they benefit your garden? How does your garden benefit them? Partner: How do they benefit your garden? How does your garden benefit them? G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 12
Special Programs Gateway Greening Garden Application SUPPORT LETTERS Connection to the Community Partnership Map Now that you have your Community Partnership Map, you should get letters of support from those individuals you have listed. The letter does not have to be long or complicated, but a letter of support should have these items Individual s name and Title or Organization s Name Their expressed support of your community garden or greening project What they have committed to doing to help your community garden or greening project Individual s or Organization Representative s Signature Why is this important? It is important to get in writing a person or organization s commitment to the project. With a letter of support, Gateway Greening Inc., knows that the organization you have put on your Community Partnership Map is aware of what you said they are doing for your community garden or greening project. Also, it is a benefit to you and your project, in the unfortunate circumstances, that an individual or organization does not follow through on their commitment. Local City Leaders A letter of support from a local city leader is especially important. Gateway Greening Inc. understands that the support of your local city official can dramatically increase the success of a community garden or greening project. It is very important to work with your Alderperson, Neighborhood Improvement Specialists, and Block Unit Captain, or their equivalent in your municipality to insure that your project is sustainable. Local city officials can: Help to protect your community garden or greening project Advocate for support from the city and block grants funds Provide assistance on physical improvement projects Alert you to development plans for the property, if any And much more. Please attach a letter of support from one or more of your local city officials. Example Letters Gateway Greening Inc. has example support letters from many past projects available upon request if you need help drafting letters of support for your project. Please contact the Director of Administration Sara Wike at 314-588-9600 x113 or email her at sara@gatewaygreening.org if you have any questions about this requirement. G a t e w a y G r e e n i n g G a r d e n A p p l i c a t i o n Page 13