Milwaukee Urban Garden Programs Continue to Foster Community During Pandemic

The pandemic has unleashed economic hardships upon many wage earners, hindering their ability to feed their families.

Shepherd Express
June 5, 2020

Excerpt:

Ann Brummitt, the co-executive director of Victory Garden Initiative (249 E. Concordia Ave.), is carrying on founder Gretchen Mead’s mission of addressing food insecurity. The organization was born from their annual Great Milwaukee Victory Garden Blitz, a community garden building event held in May. They’re in the process of renovating their urban farmhouse on Richards and Concordia, in the Harambee neighborhood. Their nearly two-acre adjoining arm produces an array of fresh produce.

With a focus on safety first, VGI staff began working remotely, with the exception of farm manager Aaron Wynn, and Joya Wade, community outreach coordinator, who runs community programs from the farmhouse and has been redeployed to help at the farm.

“Joya started a program in direct response to COVID to give away seeds and compost every Saturday. That’s something we knew we would could do right away, because there was an excess of both,” says Brummitt.

VGI had to change how they handle their signature event, the Blitz. Instead of using teams of volunteers from different organizations, VGI is using their staff, along with small teams of families from households that travel in their own cars and use their own garden tools.

Read the complete article here.