Work is underway to create a Refugee Garden in a vacant lot at 92 19th Street. People United for Sustainable Housing, Inc. (PUSH Buffalo) is spearheading the effort. The garden will be used by neighbors and local refugees including about thirty recent Burmese refugees participating in English as a Second Language classes at the International Institute.
Dave Majewski’s civic-minded landscape firm, Premium Services, donated labor and equipment to kick-off the work. Twenty trenches have been excavated for the future raised beds. Volunteer union masons will soon be laying the stone walls for the planting areas.
Next year, the garden will grow fruits and vegetables, including some experimentation with Burmese crops. Its harvest will be shared among the planters, who will also be responsible for planning and maintaining the garden.
“We will be looking for volunteers in the spring,” says project designer and horticulturist Emily Gadanyi. She says the garden will provide “opportunities for the Burmese community to integrate with the neighborhood, create a stage for the Burmese to exercise their gardening/agrarian skills, and start a prototype for a possible relationship between vacant lots and Buffalo’s refugee community.”
PUSH is a nonprofit organization working to improve housing and employment opportunities on the West Side of Buffalo.
Get Connected: Emily Gadanyi