Garden Of Hope

Once vacant ‘drug den’ lot in Paterson now sprouting
harvest of fresh vegetables

PATERSON  Main Street is the hub of urban life in this city. St. Joseph’s Hospital, bus stops, retail stores, car mechanics, restaurants, one of the city’s libraries, schools and even the Mother Church of the Diocese — the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist are found here.

But city dwellers are gawking at a very rare site along Main Street — a vegetable garden cultivated by the Father English Community Center (FECC), an agency of diocesan Catholic Charities, with the assistance of City Green, a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing urban farms and gardens in northern New Jersey. The garden is in what was a vacant lot across the street from 435 Main Street where FECC is located.

The garden, named the Garden of Hope or in Spanish, Jardin de la Esperanza, is part of FECC People’s Choice Food Pantry, which provides food and groceries to thousands of families each year. With the garden, FECC can now provide fresh produce for those clients.

Sister of Charity Maureen Sullivan, grant writer for diocesan Catholic Charities’ Catholic Family and Community Services, is coordinator of the garden with the assistance of Carlos Roldan, director of the food pantry at FECC. Nancy Hirdt and Andy San Felippo from Our Lady of the Magnificat Parish in Kinnelon are also part of FECC’s “garden team.”

“Our overall vision of our community garden is a space that provides a green area where adults and children can connect with nature, learn to grow healthy food and harvest produce for themselves and other needy persons,” Sister Maureen said. “It will produce healthy food but will also bring people together and promotes gardening skills for the urban dweller. It can also be a place with some quiet space to sit, read, talk or dream.”

The project was established in March and gardening began the first week in June once a fence was installed. The lot belonged to neighboring School 3 but was abandoned for security reasons. Because it is on busy Main Street, the fence was needed to secure the site when the volunteers aren’t working in it. Abandoned for years, the lot was a known haven for drug addicts and drug dealers.

With the garden now in place, many of the residents pass by it with a sense of pride and happiness to see the “drug den” is gone and replaced with something green and full of life. Currently, there are several different kinds of vegetables found in the garden with 12 plant beds, including three kinds of tomatoes and peppers, eggplant, lettuce, squash, cucumbers, kale, cilantro and basil. There are also a few stone benches and bushes attracting butterflies. What has caught the attention of many city-dwellers walking by the garden is the four-foot tall cornstalks.

“Soon they will be taller than me,” laughed Sister Maureen.

The success of the garden is possible because of the many volunteers, said Sister Maureen, as the garden team continues to reach out to more people interested in helping or giving donations. City Green gave a grant of $2,500, which was used entirely for the fence. Through the efforts of the garden team, they were able reach out to others for donations of tools, plants and monetary gifts.

“When we started working on the garden, many people in the community would stop by and ask us what was going on,” Hirdt said. “They almost seem intrigued that this was happening here on Main Street in the city of Paterson. It’s truly a garden for the people.

Besides providing food during the summer months, students at the FECC day care, summer school and teen programs and developmentally disabled program will be invited to take guided tours of the garden and to help weed and harvest when possible. FECC also hopes to show clients the possibilities of growing fresh produce in Paterson. They also plan on having a space for story time for children.

Although the garden is just in its first season, Sister Maureen already has plans to expand it since only a small percentage of space has been used in the lot. “We plan to add additional beds for more vegetables and flowers,” she said. “New members are being sought from local groups as gardening volunteers. We hope to plant a late summer crop to make up for the time lost in the early spring. Our goal is to make the garden an attractive and welcoming place.”

[To help the garden project, contact Sister of Charity Maureen Sullivan at FECC at (973) 881-0280, ext. 538.]