AmeriCorps members clear the way for sunlight and safety at Linden garden

The Horn of Africa Community Garden in Columbus’s Linden neighborhood hums with activity during the day. Women, most of whom are refugees from Somalia, are watering, weeding, planting and talking, while small children are playing close by. But at night, the garden’s out-of-the-way location has attracted crime and vandalism.

SHARECorps VISTA member Sarah Lenkay learned about the problem when she visited the garden as part of her work at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. Sarah mobilized about 20 volunteers who spent Saturday morning making a huge dent (literally!) in the problem. According to Sarah:

The garden sits on the property of the Rhema Christian Center and abuts Capital Park Apartments; this low-income housing is home to around 200 Somali refugee families. The community garden is a resource for the families and is maintained primarily by the women, who grow food for themselves and use it as a community gathering space where the women can come together and socialize.

While the garden is a wonderful space for the Somali women, it is also grounds for vandalism and other destructive activities. This is because the garden isn’t visible to the neighboring apartments and residents cannot see into the garden since the honeysuckle brush is severely overgrown.

AmeriCorps members and other community residents came Saturday morning to cut back the brush and clear the line of visibility between the apartments and the garden. Within a few hours, we were able to cut brush, bundle it, and haul it out of the area so the women vigilantes in the apartments could keep an eye on the garden. 

Beth, a social worker from Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, a local non-profit refugee resettlement agency, told us the brush clean-up was vital to restoring safety and community integrity to the garden. Residents now feel safer entering the garden because they can see into it prior to going in. Also, women who watch the garden from their apartments are able to monitor activities and help reduce the occurrence of inappropriate, destructive activities taking place there.

All in all, the morning was beneficial for everyone. AmeriCorps members were able to directly impact a local community garden that serves a great community need, and the Somali women were able to ensure that their garden space would be safe and undamaged. In addition, many of the one-time volunteers are now interested in regularly volunteering at the garden, and are more aware of the challenges and successes that surround the large Somali refugee population in Columbus.

(Sarah Lenkay serves as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, where she is working to organize produce distributions at food pantries and building capacity for community gardens in Franklin County.)