Oxford SILO

from Oxfordian Spring/Summer 2022 Edition

Neighborhood Services Center

SILO is a welcoming and diverse group of friends who come together to Serve, Inspire and Love Others in our community. When COVID began, SILO quickly adapted our free monthly community meals by purchasing meals from local restaurants and delivering them to friends who were experiencing lost wages and food insecurity. As the pandemic persisted, delivering bags of groceries had a longer lasting impact. Since March 2020, Delivering Hope has distributed over 7,850 meals and 5,900 bags of groceries. After delivering thousands of meals and groceries, we got thinking about ways to help our friends further stabilize their food source. We launched Growing with SILO, a program that made and installed close to 200 raised garden beds in the backyards of the most vulnerable people in Oxford. To further support friends growing their own food, we created the Growing Together Community Garden- a place where friends and neighbors come together to grow food for themselves and others. The donated lot has been cultivated to grow vegetables to distribute to friends in need. Tables and chairs provide a place for gardeners to rest and neighbors to catch up. We host gardening workshops in English and Spanish and a free mini library is stocked with garden-themed books. In the coming months, we plan to add: A shed with water catchment system Wheelchair- accessible raised garden beds A free produce stand A free mini pantry filled with shelf-stable food Pollinator-friendly flowers and medicinal herbs Murals, sculptures and art During COVID, many of us had concerns for our families. Will we have enough of what we need? The community garden provides an opportunity for us to wonder if our neighbor has what they need. The garden creates an environment to work alongside people who think, eat, believe, dress or act differently than us. Along the way we’ll grow some vegetables, but more importantly, we’ll GROW TOGETHER.