Goodnight Garden, Dream Big!

Goodnight Garden, Dream Big!

Looking at the Park City forecast, chilly weather is incoming! This afternoon we will put our fabulous B21 Buds&Blooms garden beds, to bed. We will cover them up with heavy duty frost cloths and hope that our still green tomatoes will survive to ripen red and make it to the salad bowl!

What did we grow this past summer besides gorgeous flowers and yummy vegetables? In my opinion we grew the following:

Friendship; Awareness; Confidence; Inspiration; Hope; Community

Bridge21 families, friends, special ed teachers and community leaders came together throughout the summer and planned, planted, created, built, watered, nurtured and miraculously HARVESTED something lovely and awe inspiring!

Together we did it!

Last Spring, when we committed to Summit Community Gardens, it seemed a wild idea…but we reserved 2 plots because we wanted our kids to have SOMETHING special to look forward to throughout the summer. Many of them participate in Young Life Capernaum during the school year. YL takes a summer break and we wanted to continue bimonthly gatherings. Outdoor gardening seemed a perfect venue as it provided space to meet, have a snack, do a craft and get digging!

Our B21 BOD president, Stephanie Polukoff quipped, ”And just like that, we are farmers!” In May, when it was time to amend the soil, we weeded the plots and added Earthworm “Castings” (which is a nice way to describe earthworm poop ). We watched a few informative Zoom classes by Summit Community Gardens and ordered Zone 5 High Altitude seeds. Any time I felt overwhelmed, I remembered the wise words my sister (a former community garden director and landscape architect) told me:

JUST STICK IT IN THE GROUND AND IT WILL GROW.

Was she right or was she right?!? This is a good motto for Bridge21 right now. There comes a point in every process where it’s time to act. Nothing ever grows from good ideas not firmly planted and tended. We are planting seeds of hope and awareness. The housing crisis for young adults with intellectual disabilities will only be overcome with hope (for near future options) and awareness (1. that currently Park City and Summit County have no plans to address this situation and 2. that communities throughout America are addressing the issue with creative housing solutions).

Even though family after family has moved away or sent their young adults to other communities in other states, we now have the attention of Mountainlands Community Housing Trust. This compassionate, effective organization has been successfully addressing affordable housing for decades here in Summit and Wasatch counties.

Pat Matheson, executive director of MCHT, has had several meetings with B21. Recently, Pat invited us to participate in their Central Village Apartment and Condominium units at the new Silver Creek Development. Bridge 21 families and friends are being offered a first look at 12 ground level 1,2 and 3 bedroom apartments, plus 2 ADA type A for sale condos. So here it is: a seed of hope and awareness, planted into a partnership where it can actually GROW!

Please join us Thursday evening Sept 30, 6 pm at Central Village for an Open House. Even if your child is too young or already set somewhere else, JOIN US because THIS IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION for Park City!

Help Bridge21 plant a seed to grow a community groundswell of interest and action!