Back in 2019, the fondly named “Garden Corral” was a weekly favorite among North Newstead Association (NNA) seniors.

After NNA held their elderly services workshops in the shady corner of Fresh Starts Community Garden, workshop attendees would gather around a table stacked with produce freshly picked from Urban Harvest STL farms, including the FOOD ROOF Farm, Kerr FOOD ROOF, and on-location at Fresh Starts. As seniors gathered around the Garden Corral of fresh produce, Farmer Drew from the UHSTL team would stick around to answer questions – “what can you do with a lemon cucumber?” – while they selected their favorite veggies.

Fresh Starts Community Garden, owned by NNA board member and UHSTL partner Rosie Willis, is a community hub where neighbors in the surrounding JeffVanderLou neighborhood come together to garden. Since 2017, UHSTL has been maintaining unclaimed beds in the garden and donating the majority of produce grown there to our community partners. In 2020 alone, UHSTL harvested 1,175 pounds of produce from the garden.

This season, the lively post-workshop vegetable share had to be put on pause. However, with UHSTL farms still producing, NNA’s Community Engagement Specialist Constance Siu has found new ways to distribute produce.

Her first stop is to check in with a couple seniors she has on deck to receive produce weekly. These folks, who are over 65, are already more susceptible to severe symptoms of Covid-19, and one senior who relies on public transportation to reach the grocery store is at even higher risk if and when she leaves her home. Constance divvies up their shares and delivers it to them by the end of the day so that they don’t even need to leave the house.

Often, she gets much more produce than her seniors can handle. When this is the case, she’ll write up a mini “order form” of what’s left over and check in with her neighbors around their office in the O’Fallon neighborhood of North City – the tenants upstairs, the barber shop across the street, the folks at a nearby intersection. They fill out the form and she repackages and delivers their orders.

Sometimes, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to complete this process, so Constance will drop off extra produce at Bread of Life Church in Old North for their Free Food Wednesdays.

“They set up in front of the church with a whole line of food, but they rarely have fresh produce,” Constance explains. “Now, what I hear, is that people come early, and they’ll ask, ‘Where are the cucumbers!?’”

Sharing produce is just one branch of NNA’s many services. The two-woman team works in 21 different neighborhoods (primarily in North City) and collaborates with a wide range of community partners and nonprofits. Their range of services include affordable housing, beautification, neighborhood safety, landlord training and minor home repair.

Navigating the shift to virtual work has been tough, particularly because many of NNA’s services are in-person. Many individuals need to make hard decisions on how to engage – for example, balancing the risk of getting Covid with needing to have repairs done in their homes, especially before winter comes.

When it comes to Constance’s community engagement work, she has also shared the challenges of the technology gap, particularly when working with seniors or individuals without access to wifi. However, she remains optimistic.

“What I’ve learned in the last couple of months is that they are resilient and they’re willing to learn,” Constance says. “And they probably know Zoom better than most of us do by now!”

North Newstead Association brings community partners together to promote economic well being in the North Newstead Association geographic area by providing affordable housing and family support services to the areas low and moderate-income residents. Follow them on Facebook or get in touch at northnewsteadassociationstl@gmail.com.

To volunteer or get involved with Fresh Starts Community Garden, please reach out to Ms. Rosie Willis at 314.685.5183.