[Community_garden] Is your community garden on Public Housing/Housing Authority Land?

[Dorene Pasekoff]

Hi, Folks!

 

If your community garden is on land owned by a Housing Authority and/or land
with public housing, could you e-mail me the name of the housing
project/Housing Authority, your garden's name and the state and town where
you are?  If you work for an agency that runs community gardens on such
land, please e-mail me the number of gardens, their location, etc.

 

If I could have this information by next Friday, May 25, it would be
tremendously helpful.

 

Okay, why do I need this information?  Our community garden/labyrinth has
been at the Fairview Housing Project in Phoenixville, owned by the Chester
County Housing Authority, for the past 10 years (we were 7 years at a
previous location).  The current administration wants us out so that they
can build.  Build "what" is the question - rumors are flying that it's a
private deal to get rid of the current housing project and put in private
"affordable housing" that will benefit financially benefit Board members and
friends of Board members - but no one knows for sure, since the Chester
County Housing Authority won't actually talk about what they are planning -
just that they want to build and we have to leave.

 

So, there's going to be a sit-down between the Housing Authority and St.
John's United Church of Christ (which runs the garden and labyrinth),
moderated by our state Senator's Chief of Staff.  I just KNOW the Executive
Director (this is the woman who turned off in the middle of a drought,
minutes before I arrived to work with adjudicated youth, then accused the
church of stealing water from the Housing Authority and told me I was
"disagreeable person" and "why won't you just leave?") is going to say that
the Housing Authority's mission is only to build housing, not to have
gardens.  If I can lay out a sheet of community gardens on Housing
Authority/public housing land, it should take the sails out of THAT argument
--  and I need all the help I can get, because if the rumor is true, this
community garden is the only thing standing in the way of a lot of very
well-connected people making a lot of money.

 

Thank you so much for your help.  As Adam as said in the past, "Land use is
a blood sport"  After 17 years, we're playing for keeps.

 

Dorene

 

Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator

St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden and Labyrinth

 

A mission of 

St. John's United Church of Christ, 315 Gay Street, Phoenixville, PA  19460

 

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