As most horticulturalists know, starting a garden is never quite as easy as throwing seeds in the dirt. But it can be even more of a challenge when you’re an unrecognized student group trying to start one at the Grant Houses public housing complex on 124th Street and Amsterdam.
The Grant Houses Community Garden Project, an offshoot of the Columbia Food Sustainability Project, is a student-run organization that has been trying to bring a public garden to the Grant Houses since 2008.
But so far, no seeds have been planted due to difficulties in getting recognition from governing boards on campus, applying for funding, and navigating citywide red tape, said co-coordinator Andrew Kim, CC ’11.
Kim said the group has tried to get recognition—independent from the Food Sustainability Project—through several campus organizations that oversee clubs. They tried and had no luck with the Student Governing Board, Community Impact, and the Earth Institute, he said. So far, they’ve relied on outside funding through grants not affiliated with the University.
Devora Aharon, CC ’10 and former president of SGB, said that while the Garden Project “does great work,” it didn’t fall under SGB’s mandate since neighborhood service is its primary mission. Community Impact, Aharon said, oversees these kinds of organizations.
But Kim said that CI turned them down earlier in the year because it couldn’t afford funding an additional program.
“Some people have been supportive but as a whole, there hasn’t been strong administrative support,” said Rebecca Davies, CC ’10 and the project founder and director. Davies emphasized, though, that the main goal of the club is to develop a relationship with Grant Houses, and not to build a garden.
Outside of the challenges of club recognition, there have also been logistical delays in coordinating with Columbia and the city to get approval for the actual implementation of a garden.
Columbia, after reviewing paperwork and confirming that the project was within university safety regulations, gave the group the go-ahead this month, Davies said, adding that she hopes they can break ground on the garden this spring, before she graduates.
Now Davies said they are only waiting for finalized paperwork from the New York City Housing Authority, the city agency that oversees the public housing units.
NYCHA spokesperson Heidi Morales said in an email on Thursday that the Authority has to follow certain procedures before recognizing these kinds of partnerships.
“All groups wishing to work in our spaces must appreciate that we have to protect the safety of our residents and the integrity of our property,” she said, adding, “NYCHA is especially interested in forming partnerships that will further its environmental sustainability initiatives and that will also improve the health of our residents, and beautify our properties.”
Davies said that the students have already been in contact with representatives from Grant House’s senior center, after-school program, and tenants association.
“They were enthusiastic and since then we have found a lot of ... frustration that it hasn’t happened yet,” Davies said.
Sarah Martin, president of the Grant Houses Tenants Association, said, “We’ve been talking about it for quite a while so something’s gotta happen soon.”
“Everybody involved has been really excited about it,” she added, saying that she thought the main roadblocks were concerns about liability and insurance clearance.
“I had no idea there were so many obstacles that would come up,” Martin said. “But now that I know what they are, I can get them all taken care of.”
Co-coordinator Saskia Cornes, SoA ’11, said that, despite the challenges, it is important to continue working on the effort. “The more difficulties we encounter, the clearer it is that Columbia needs a project like this. The project, however, has caused much confusion since it is a radically different model.”
In the meantime, students involved in the Garden Project have temporarily shifted their efforts to other projects involving Grant Houses tenants.
“The garden has been our ultimate goal, but since it’s taken a long time, we’ve been able to focus on the small components of building a partnership with the Grant Houses community,” Kim said.
Students involved regularly visit with children and seniors at the Grant Houses, a public housing complex that has experienced several crimes since January, including a young child’s murder and a drug raid.
Davies said that the topic of food and nutrition has been a good opportunity to forge ties between Columbia and the housing project.
“Students have established a community coalition centered on food, nutrition, and environment,” Davies said, adding that the group is“using food as a platform to develop relationships between Columbia and the Grant House community.”
Kim has been in charge of coordinating an after-school program for about 15 Grant Houses children. Twice a week, the elementary school students learn about nutrition and gardening, and Kim said students from Columbia took them on a field trip earlier this year to a Brooklyn food co-op.
Kim also organizes informal lunches between Columbia students and senior citizens living in the Grant Houses, many of whom are former agricultural workers.
“We don’t think of it as community service but a partnership,” Davies said.
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