e sse nt i al community
BADGER ROCK Neighborhood Center by Renata Solan
In 2019, Badger Rock helped to kick off the first official Wisconsin School Garden Day with a visit from Representative Shelia Stubbs.
Jasmine Banks is one of the founding gardeners at the Badger Rock Community Garden.
Rooted evolved in 2020 from the merger of two community-based organizations: Community GroundWorks on Madison’s north side and Center for Resilient Cities, which operated through BRNC to offer community events and programs as well as garden-based education for Badger Rock Middle School (BRMS) students. Badger Rock’s programs have grown and evolved as part of the merged organization while always remaining rooted in community. Now, a new era is beginning for BRNC. In 2020, after years of owning the neighborhood center building and being co-located with BRMS, Rooted sold the building to Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD). Rooted staff are working to ensure that the neighborhood center, still located at Badger Rock, remains a staple of Madison’s south side and continues to offer community-based programming. 10 | m a d i s o n e s s e n t i a l s
Photograph by Hedi Rudd
Rooted’s Badger Rock Neighborhood Center (BRNC) is all about learning, growing, eating, and gathering with people of all ages. The projects range from monthly dinners and a market featuring local vendors to collaborations with Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and Briarpatch Youth Services. “Our primary job is building relationships,” says Sarah Karlson, Rooted’s education director and farm and education manager at BRNC.
