Teens create garden from scratch, beautify path leading to townhomes.
Participants in the Swansea Take Back and Swansea Leadership programs stand by the garden that they planted as part of the programs.
Staff photo/NICK PERRY
It is a well used path, but until a group of teens in the Cooper-Mills townhouse complex got their hands on it this summer, it was non-descript and very bare.
"It's a path that leads into the community," said Sherwin Modeste, a Toronto Community Housing youth engagement coordinator at Cooper-Mills, in the Dundas West and Scarlett Road neighbourhood, "but it had been left unattended."
It took six weeks for the six teens between 13 and 16 to get the ground prepped for a garden as part of a City of Toronto initiative called Take BAC (Beautiful and Clean), a hands-on community beautification program designed for young people living in Toronto's under-resourced neighbourhoods. Its aim is to encourage youth to engage in environmental stewardship by cultivating green ideas.
The six teens have taken back a piece of their community by creating a "garden from scratch," said Modeste.
"They planted quite a bit of perennials so next year, they'll see a lot of them come back," he said.
This is the fourth year for the Take BAC program, yet the first that Cooper-Mills has participated. A call went out for volunteers and young people put forward their names, Modeste explained. Six of nine were chosen, those who had the most difficulty finding employment, he said. They chose what space they wanted to transform.
"It's a path leading up to the townhomes. It's not a big space, but my God, what a difference. It's such a commonly used space, it leads to a bus stop," said Modeste.
Completed since Aug. 17, residents are still talking about it.
"They're thanking the kids, saying it looks so beautiful," he said.
The kids' efforts did not go unrecognized by the city. Cooper-Mills received a $300 honorarium for their hard work.
"When they found out they'd won, it added even more excitement," said Modeste. "They're all really excited and are asking, 'can we do this again next year?'"
It's given them a sense of pride and ownership, he added.
Swansea Mews was deemed a runner-up and received a $100 honorarium. What they accomplished, said Modeste, is "just tremendous."
"Swansea created a garden from scratch as well. It's very unique," he said.
Digging up the soil proved too difficult that the group enlisted the help of a contractor who built a planter box. Similar to Cooper-Mills, the Swansea group planted a lot of perennials.
"We've had a lot of tenants volunteer," said Modeste.
This is the third time Swansea has been recognized.