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The Spirit Thrives at Perma Detroit
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Pagans and Neo-Pagans have been green-conscious for decades before "going green," became a marketing catch-phrase for caring about Mother Earth. In the 60's, 70's and 80's, Earth worship was dismissed as some crazy hippie commune pastime fueled buy sex, drugs and rock and roll. Today, thanks to the discovery of global warming, Earth-worship has taken center stage giving commercial manufacturers new ways to sell the same old products. Even President Obama believes that adopting a green business culture can save America. Well, Hallelujah, it is about time!
However, caring for mother earth goes beyond recycling garbage and replacing carpet with bamboo flooring. On the east-side of Detroit and in midtown Detroit, there are magickal gardens growing and uplifting the spirits of the people who tend to them and benefit from their harvest. Fueled by the will of the spirit, sweat and bold determination, Perma Detroit has magickally transformed urban decay into natural beauty. And that's the gospel truth. I spoke with Perma Detroit about the power behind this wondrous transformation.
What motivated you to start Perma Detroit?
In 1988, on E. Canfield and John R I started my first community garden next to the Feminist Center friends and I started. In the early 90's I joined the collective that did the gardens at 2nd and Hancock in the little park off the site of the Dalley in the Alley. In 1986 when I first moved back to Detroit I was seeing all of the vacant lots and was thinking community gardening would work really well in Detroit but we were in the height of the Crack problem here and very few others saw my vision. I use to take my kids to this playground on MLK and Trumbull and I would look at these lots and think this would be the best place to start a community garden; they are next to a church with a preschool and it's highly visible. But I was busy then and the neighborhood had a lot of Crack houses at the time so I never got started there. Then in 2002 I found myself living in the house next to the church that had been a Crack house that my friend was rehabbing and I became friend with young new Pastor of the church. I was building a garden in the backyard of the house and the Pastor came over and told me he liked what we were doing with the house. After I knew him for awhile I told him about how I always thought the 3 lots next to the churches playground would make a good community garden. So he suggested I start it. I told him I was too, busy but if he started it I'd help. But it didn't happen. But I was building good relationships with the people who worked and attended the church.
In 2005 when Katrina hit New Orleans I headed down to New Orleans on Sept 5th, 2005. I got heavily involved in the whole disaster relief that was happening there. For two years I traveled back and forth between Detroit and New Orleans helping out in anyway that I could. The people at the church were my biggest supporters in my work down there. The more my friends and I traveled to NOLA the more we saw similarities between the two cities. NOLA had a fast and hard disaster and we came to see Detroit's disaster as a slower disaster that happened over 25 to 30 years but both were disaster cities. While working down in NOLA I met a woman named Mama D and one day she said to me; "It's great all of these volunteers came down to New Orleans and the Gulf to help us but sooner or later ya'll will have to go home. I'd like you to tell your friends to go home and not stop working. Go home and help the poor people in your own neighborhoods. There are poor and oppressed people everywhere and there are always disasters going on great and small in people's lives." That statement made me think about how I use to be much more active in Detroit. I helped the kids that hung out with Mama D build a garden at the end of her street. And it made me start thinking about the lots next to the church back home. That disaster changed my way of thinking; community disaster relief, food security issues, peak oil, perma-culture, and a host of other things I was too busy to notice before Katrina. Meeting people from around the country and seeing what other people were doing inspired me. My friends and I started talking about what Mama D had said and we realized that we could not afford to keep traveling down to NOLA to do what we were doing and that our own community needed us. Each of us came home and got busy doing things in Detroit. My project was food security, so I approached the Pastor of Spirit of Hope church about starting a garden except this time I was ready to commit to heading up the project to make sure it got started. On Aug. 5th 2007, the church held an outdoor service and blessed the lots and I got started.
Where do you find the inspiration and strength?
Since then, we have run into various problems and there have been days I have wanted to walk away but knowing there are a lot of people with awesome gardens around Detroit has motivated me to keep (going). Knowing that there are other people who are working hard on food security issues has also motivated me. And now that my taste buds have been spoiled by heirloom tomatoes that I cannot afford to buy at Whole Foods, I will have to grow them for the rest of my life, lol. Another thing that has inspired or motivated me is the fact that very few of our generation will be able to retire in the style that our parents were able to retire. I have no desire to become a "Greeter" at Wal-Mart or a custodian at Mickey D's. At least, I know the garden will allow me to eat well in my old age.
I hear you, sister. You have so much more to offer the world.
Mary Seston Corboy and her Greensgrow project in Philly is another inspiration. Her project has been going on for 12 years now and she is able to employ 17 people and the project is bringing in 700,000 dollars a year. I'd like to do that for Detroit and myself.
Mary Seston Corboy and her Greensgrow project in Philly is another inspiration. Her project has been going on for 12 years now and she is able to employ 17 people and the project is bringing in 700,000 dollars a year. I'd like to do that for Detroit and myself.
Hello! That’s exactly what Detroit needs; more small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Are there any plans to expand the project throughout Detroit?
Currently, my projects are:
Spirit of Hope Community Gardens and Urban Farm "Spirit Farm"
1519 MLK Blvd just west of Trumbull
The bulk of our food feeds the volunteers of the garden, our community food pantry where we distribute food for 80 families who can pick up food 2x's a month, and some food goes to the soup kitchen.
Community members can have an allotment garden though few have taken us up on it. We distribute seeds through the food pantry for those who wish to start their own gardens.
What can readers do to help?
Our work days are Wednesdays, 4pm-8pm and Saturday, 2pm-5pm. We can always use volunteers. People can do their court ordered community service at our site. We also have an on-going needs list that you can find on this page, donations of time are best but if that's not possible materials and money are always good. We are a non-profit so all donations are tax-deductible.
FAITH Farm: Food Action in the Hood
4375 - 4381 Manistique Street between Warren and Mack and between Alter and Chalmers, is a garden on two lots. That garden sells food at the E. Warren Ave Farmers Market.
We work every Thursday, 12pm - 8pm. We can always use volunteers at FAITH Farm. The 4300 block of Manistique is totally void of houses. It would make the perfect urban farm space. My vision for that block is for it to be a "Green Think Tank" for the east-side.
4375 - 4381 Manistique Street between Warren and Mack and between Alter and Chalmers, is a garden on two lots. That garden sells food at the E. Warren Ave Farmers Market.
We work every Thursday, 12pm - 8pm. We can always use volunteers at FAITH Farm. The 4300 block of Manistique is totally void of houses. It would make the perfect urban farm space. My vision for that block is for it to be a "Green Think Tank" for the east-side.
The Manistique St. Healthy Soil Project
4303 Manistique St
(dedicated to the memory of Meg Perry and her Healthy Soil Project in New Orleans)
This project is designed to take compost waste out of the waste stream and turn it into healthy soil. Soil is the most important building block of any garden, having healthy soil in the city is most important. Rich compost is given to any eastside gardener who wants the soil. Currently, we work on this project on Friday afternoon.
A young group of people founded The Detroit Green Collective and they started a community garden at Alter and E. Warren Avenue. Some of the folks at the Collective, helped FAITH Farm get started and were inspired by my projects. I joined their group and we work on the Grass Roots Garden on Fridays 10-2pm
All of the gardens need volunteers, community service workers, donations of materials and cash.
Thank you.
Peace and love,
Kate/tuka
(dedicated to the memory of Meg Perry and her Healthy Soil Project in New Orleans)
This project is designed to take compost waste out of the waste stream and turn it into healthy soil. Soil is the most important building block of any garden, having healthy soil in the city is most important. Rich compost is given to any eastside gardener who wants the soil. Currently, we work on this project on Friday afternoon.
A young group of people founded The Detroit Green Collective and they started a community garden at Alter and E. Warren Avenue. Some of the folks at the Collective, helped FAITH Farm get started and were inspired by my projects. I joined their group and we work on the Grass Roots Garden on Fridays 10-2pm
All of the gardens need volunteers, community service workers, donations of materials and cash.
Thank you.
Peace and love,
Kate/tuka
Blessed Be, and thank you for your spirit.
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