ARTSPACE BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT

The home advocacy program provided Artspace beautification garden project opportunities and guidance in Buffalo, New York, 14209 and 14208 area codes. The Artspace Block Association and Cold Spring Block Association were given the opportunity and the funding to do several projects for our community. One was the Artspace community garden on Northampton Street and Ellicott Street off of Main Street in Buffalo, New York; the others were in the Northampton area for the homeowners.  With help from Cold Springs and our home group Artspace, we have been working extremely hard since the starting date for these new projects from 2023 to September 2023. 

 For Artspace, we have provided these services for the community garden and the lawn cutting, which was done by both block members like Mrs. Carry Ingram, president of Colds Springs Block Club, and Mrs. Evelyn Santos from Artspace Block Club. Not only is Santos president, but she is also a resident of the Artspace loft apartments on 1219 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14209. 

 This project is significant to Mrs. Evelyn Santos, who wants to make a difference in our Artspace community and to make long-term changes to the garden that, by no fault of the past garden manager, Mrs. Colleen Morrisey, and due to lack of funding, she could not continue with the upkeep of the Artspace community garden. We wanted to reach out and help her to make these significant changes happen.   This project has been an eye-opening experience for both groups involved in learning about the procedures for healthy plants, the planning of the vegetables and fruits, and the preparing of the soils for each season and plant. Learning about the different plants and the benefits they can provide us for good nutrition. 

 We cut the lawn ourselves at first because we were learning what to do for the first time, and then we found a great person to start cutting the lawn for us at an excellent price for the block club. We started buying the different tools needed for the projects and buying the right plants, like the perennial and patio furniture, adding decorations for the garden, and adding colors to make the garden look great and welcoming to our community and the neighborhood. 

I want to end this story by saying thank you to the home advocacy program for all their help and trust, especially for allowing us to work with the beautification program, including the garden and the procedure.