HOMES
& GARDENS
J
im Guckert is bending over a patch of dirt on the 700 block of Eighth St. SE. Two young men are kneeling close by, watching and taking instruction. “Keep it even with the ground,“ instructs Guckert, as he deftly slides a rose bush into a prepared hole. “But if you can’t do that,” he continues, “it’s better to plant higher than lower.” They pack soil and manure around the roses, and as one of the young men stands, he grows reflective. “In the future, people are going to walk by and I’m going to think, I planted that,” says 24-year-old Whyte Dawles. The planting is a collaboration between volunteer-based organization Guerrilla Gardeners and Sasha Bruce Youthworks (SBY, 741 Eighth St. SE), a nonprofit working to prevent and end youth homelessness in the DC Region. The arrangement is part of a continuing effort to beautify the southern end of Barracks Row, but both Guerrilla Gardeners and the volunteers are hoping the work experience can provide them with so much more. They’re looking for the experience they need to make a fresh start.
Gardening Partnership Helps Youth Bloom on Barracks Row guerrilla gardeners offers internship to sasha bruce youth– and you can help by Elizabeth O’Gorek
invest in their neighborhood, she thought. So many of the youth Sasha Bruce works with are looking for jobs. They don’t always have the strongest work histories, but they really want to work, Liebert said. Sasha Bruce prepares young people to get them work ready, but the organization is always looking for more employment opportunities for youth. “We really just need somebody who’s going to take a chance with someone they might not ordinarily take a chance with,” said Lieber.
Planting Seeds Guerrilla Gardeners is taking that chance, and 24-year-old Makeem McNair is seizing the opportunity. When he learned of the opportunity through SBY, he immediately volunteered. Realizing he was dealing with some difficult times, he said, he had come to Sasha
in underserved communities. He reached out to organizations along Barracks Row to see if there was interest in purchasing rose bushes, mulch, soil and manure and having the roses planted in the tree Taking a Chance boxes that line the street. That’s the whole goal, said Guckert, the founder of When Guckert and his team knocked on the Guerrilla Gardeners of Washington DC, which imdoor of SBY they found a partner instead of a cliproves public spaces, particularly neglected parcels ent. In addition to taking Guerrilla Gardeners up on the offer to beautify the space in front of the building, SBY Program Manager Pam Lieber also suggested Jim Guckert Guerilla Gardener. Photo: E. O’Gorek/CCN that the two organizations partner together to Bruce because he heard they had a good program. do the work. “They help you get back where you need to be, “I thought it would so I took that chance, and came,” he said. “And ever just be a great opportunisince then, they’ve helped me.” ty for some of our young A father of two children aged 5 and 2, McNair people to learn and be wants to try to better himself, and he sees gardening a part of the communias a potential career. He learned the basics through ty, so I approached Jim,” a program at school, he said, and he’s ready to learn she said. Young people more. “It could be a great career and I want to try interested in getting innew things,” he explains. “I don’t mind trying new volved with the project things out.” could take the opportuParticipants will plant roses along the street, nity to build experience, but also help Guerrilla Gardeners maintain the learn some new skills, Makeem McNair and Whyte Dawles work with Guerrilla Gardeners’ Jim Guckert boxes, which Guckert says will require significant build a resume and also to plant a rose bush on the 700 block of Barracks Row. Photo: E. O’Gorek/CCN 38 ★ HILLRAG.COM
