| Project Name: |
Inter-generational Gardens
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| Project Purpose (Include city and state): |
In Brookings, SD, (57006) one child care center stands out as a leader in health care and healthy living. The United Living Community (ULC) is a campus of skilled nursing, assisted living and independent living available for the senior population and includes the Child Development Center (CDC) for children ages 4 weeks to 6 years. Inter-generational activities bring the seniors and children together for weekly planned activities and spontaneous visits. The CDC is licensed for up to 120 children.
Each Monday at 10 AM in the summertime, the ULC Walking Club has residents of skilled nursing and the CDC children and staff participating in walking events that promote a healthy lifestyle. ULC has the great fortune of being located adjacent to a beautiful city park which is part of the walking path.
One bike rodeo took place in July with another scheduled in August. This event usually includes children as participants with the senior residents as spectators. However, several residents will venture out to ride with the children. The residents use an adaptive bike side-by-side tandem and a stable 3 wheel bike.
Throughout the campus the ULC has gardens in courtyards, gardens greeting families at the entrance to the CDC and a pumpkin and melon patch on the west end of the campus. Many of the gardens are in containers which make it possible for the residents to continue their life-long love of gardening while seated in their wheel chairs. The children enjoy learning about gardening alongside the residents. In the fall, a harvest festival is an activity which includes the addition of extended family members. Using the produce from the gardens in the harvest festival is a goal the ULC strives for, but the meals are heavily subsidized with food purchases from our vendors.
OUR GOAL FOR THIS FUNDING: The ULC has a vision of expanding the gardening program. The goal is to hire an intern for spring-fall 2015. The ideal intern will be someone who can plan and execute the curriculum and be in charge of the gardens. The funding from this grant would enable the ULC to create the intern position, purchase garden seeds/plants and other miscellaneous garden supplies. Ultimately, the goal is to have the residents share their knowledge with the children and their parents -- from the garden to the table with some preservation in between.
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| City: |
Brookings
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| Project Location: |
Brookings, SD
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| Project Website: |
www.unitedalive.com
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| Target population and how they will benefit: |
Nature deficit is a current concern that young children today are facing. Many factors contribute to this deficit including the electronic connected-ness, loss of safe, accessible places in nature for children to play and explore, and a system that has detached people from the source of food and created consumers of food products that lack nutritional benefits.
When children are involved with the planting, tending and harvesting of fresh fruit and vegetables there is a stronger tendency for them to consume that food. Participation in gardening increases their physical activity, also contributing to increased health benefits.
Children benefit from healthy food consumption and their parents become increasingly interested in preparing healthier family meals. The ULC inter-generational program includes opportunities for the children and elders to be active together. Many parents of the CDC children have not had the opportunity to learn about food preparation nor food preservation. Residents living in our independent apartments still have skills to share and knowledge to pass on – to both the CDC children and their parents. Additionally, the ULC is affiliated with a strong community network including the Brookings Area Farmers Market, HyVee which is a local supermarket, the Extension service at South Dakota State University (SDSU), and Dakota Rural Action which is a member based organization supporting sustainable agriculture. Members of the Farmers Market and the dietician from HyVee have presented together at an inter-generational (included parents of CDC children) program on Healthy Food Choices this past spring. The ULC child care center has been invited by SDSU Extension to participate in a research program called iGrow Readers, a literature-based nutrition program for young children.
The ULC elders, the children and their parents all benefit from emphasis placed on healthy eating and healthy activities. Keeping everyone connected to resources that encourage healthy lifestyles is also a goal the ULC is maintaining.
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| Why your project deserves the funds: |
This project instills values of healthy eating and healthy activity. By combining the healthy eating with the activities that the children are involved in, the ULC community will set a positive influence for long-term healthy lifestyle choices. The children and their parents, the elders residing on our campus and the staff working with our organization all benefit from heightened exposure to this value of health.
In February of 2014, a Community Garden Collaboration (CGC) was initiated by the ULC program. We meet monthly (at minimum) and have combined efforts with SDSU, the city of Brookings Human Rights Committee and the city of Brookings Sustainability Committee. Involved organizations include an intermediate school counselor, a program director from the Boys and Girls Club, master gardeners, Dakota Rural Action members and staff, and SDSU Extension to name a few. We also have individuals committed to sustainable agriculture and master gardening that work with the CGC. The focus of this collaboration is youth gardening projects in our community. The vision initiated this group and guides the work that brings together various entities in the community involved in gardening and working with youth to coordinate projects and create a position for one project director. This director would develop a long range plan and work with SDSU students (interns, practicum, etc. from programs/major as varied as Early Childhood Education, Nutrition, Agriculture, Landscape Architecture, Human Development/Family Studies) who would have site assignments focusing on one of the projects.
Funding from Wellmark would provide the group with the first steps towards achievement of making this vision a reality. The program would continue to incorporate activities that the collaboration is currently producing in the community, share findings of success and failures, and expand ideas for developing healthy curriculum throughout the community.
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| Project Timing: |
• October 2014 –
o Develop job description with garden collaboration group
o Assess best curriculum approach
• January 2015 – begin planning what will be planted, have preschool children and elders begin planting seeds for germination
• February 2015 – begin the recruitment process for hiring a summer intern with members of the garden collaboration committee
• March 2015
o Begin planning the necessary landscaping to support better access to the raised bed in front of the CDC for the elders
o Conduct interviews with potential interns
o Lock in curriculum for preschool
• April 2015
o Prepare soil
o Purchase needed supplies
o Begin planting
• May 2015
o Planting / tending
• June 2015
o Tending / weeding
o Begin plans for Harvest Festival
• July & August 2015
o Harvest
o Preserve
• September 2015 – celebrate the season with a Harvest Festival
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| State: |
South Dakota
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| Organization Name: |
United Living Community / Child Development Center
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