With the Labor Day weekend – signaling the close of another summer season – upon us, we thought there would be no better way to celebrate the changing seasons than with a pictorial blog featuring the garden at our north Philadelphia facility, Casa Nueva Vida.
The Nueva Vida Garden, now in its second year, was originally imagined by ActionAIDS staff as a refreshing bit of greenery in what is an otherwise consistently gritty urban landscape. Located in the backyard area behind the residents’ apartments, the Garden has turned out to be all of what our staff had envisioned – and then some!
Not only do the adult residents enjoy gardening, but their children as well enjoy being able to pick fresh fruit and veggies to use to make meals at home. This summer one resident noted howrewarding it is to see the children picking and eating the ripe strawberries.
And beyond that, the Garden creates a sense of community, a place where clients can demonstrate their ability to work together.
As other clients have said, the Garden is “a place to get away from the outside world” . . . “a place to relieve stress” . . . “a place of tranquility.”
We hope these images of the Garden give you, too, an opportunity to get away from the outside world, to relieve some stress, and perhaps even tofind some tranquility – if even for just a few moments.
– David W. Webber, JD, Senior Development Specialist, ActionAIDS