Gardopia's Growth and the Garden Awards Gala

from Cultivate San Antonio Summer 2021

Personal Reflections on the Summer Solstice

Sowing Seeds of Transformation: Gardopia ’ s Growth and the Garden

Awards Gala by Shirley Parodi

What do you get when you have plants plus a little water, a healthy dose of sunlight, a good amount of nutrient rich soil, and community? You get solutions to two big problems: reducing the obesity epidemic, and mitigating crime in high-crime urban corridors. That’ s what Gardopia Gardens set out to do 6 years ago when the non-profit officially formed and built a community garden in the heart of historic eastside San Antonio—an urban area known for having the highest crime rate in the city. The garden now successfully provides an ongoing oasis and refuge to an at-risk population, in addition to being a food forest in a food desert. Anyone can come and help take care of the garden and leave with fresh fruits and vegetables they pulled directly from the ground. More so, they leave having learned something about taking care of the land, the practice of gardening, and the importance of the nutritional foods it bears while gaining something from the experience of working

However, the impact Gardopia is making in San Antonio transcends the physical location of the garden. “Over the past five, going on six years, we ’ ve built somewhere between three and four hundred gardens, ” said Gardopia CEO, Stephen Lucke. “We ’ ve built gardens at community centers like Woodard Park and Ella Austin Community Center. We ’ ve worked with Washington Elementary School, Dowden Elementary, Young Women ’ s Leadership Academy and Young Men ’ s Leadership Academy, Steele Montessori, Alamo Heights Alternative High School, San Antonio Preparatory Academy... ” These were only a few of the schools and community centers Stephen continued to list off the top of his head, most of which reside in the inner city. “When we ’ re in schools, we ’ re impacting thousands of people. When we ’ re in community centers, same thing, ” he said.

While many took a devastating blow in 2020 due to the pandemic shut-down, Gardopia was lucky. Instead of floundering, it flourished. For many, gardening became a sort of much-needed therapy during Covid19. Community gardens became one of the few places where people could escape from the confines of their homes and still participate in a social activity while maintaining six feet apart. “I remember the first day the city was being shut down, we were at the garden, and I think we sold almost every plant we had. It was crazy. It was interesting, ” said Chair of the Board, Andres Narvaes. And that was just the start of a year-long whirlwind. They built more gardens in 2020—over one hundred— than in any previous year. “If we had to shut it down, I don ’t even know if Gardopia would still be around, ” said Lucke.

After almost six years as a certified nonprofit, Gardopia is finally coming into its own and reaping the fruits of their labor. If you ’ re a part of the food sustainability and gardening community in San Antonio, you know who Gardopia is. And if you ’ re not, you ’ ve likely seen one of the many gardens they ’ ve helped to establish around town, or attended one of the educational and awareness events they ’ ve put on over the years, such as the 2021 Food Systems Summit they recently helped organize along with the City of San Antonio and the Food Policy Council. Nowadays, a typical “ report card, ” as they call it, looks similar to this: .

And finally, after five years of the organization, they were able to put two fulltime staff members on the official Gardopia payroll in 2020, CEO Stephen Lucke and COO Dominic Dominguez. It was a huge milestone for the green thumbs, enabling them to focus on sustaining and growing organization instead of struggling between fulfilling their mission and figuring out how to put food on the table.

Gardopia ’ s third annual gala is August 11th, 2021. And in true Gardopia grassroots style, this one will be special in that it will also be an award ceremony for Gardopia ’ s Garden Olympics—a community event series which resumed this year after being canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. It consists of three signature events: a Spring Garden Competition, which has been in fulleffect since early spring; the recent Youth Garden Games, a fun-filled day where kids engaged in horticultural-based field-day activities; and lastly, the Garden Awards Gala, a culminating event.

“It is a fundraising event for Gardopia, ” said Dominguez, “but more importantly it’ s a way to really honor the winners of the Spring Garden Competition... and just highlight them, and let them know that they are of value. And that really gets back to expanding the awareness of urban agriculture, ” said Dominguez. The gala will be food-centric and include entertainment, food, beverage, keystone speakers, and a silent auction. Making this event even more special is the location of the upcoming gala: The Betty Kelso Center at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens, a new premiere venue in San Antonio. The LEED-Gold Certified facility features beautiful pitched ceilings constructed from reclaimed cypress logs, floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and sliding doors that open to an outdoor space overlooking jewel-toned flowers and glorious green gardens. Event capacity will, of course, be limited due to safety protocol, but there are still tickets available. “I’ m excited to see Stephen and Dom in anything besides overalls, ” Narvaes teased his peers, “I don ’t want to see any overalls that night!” Rumor has it, though, that Lucke may just have a set of tuxedo overalls tailor made just for the special occasion.

If you ’ re interested in Gardopia's initiatives to grow healthier, more sustainably responsible communities through gardening and food education, head on over to their website www.GardopiaGardens.org where you can buy tickets to the Garden Awards Gala, or follow them on social media to find out how to get involved. Just search for “Gardopia Gardens. ”