School Greenhouse
| John Hoekwater, Director of Neighbors United in New Possibilities NFP and Pastor of Many Peoples Church in the Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park, recently received an award for his community building efforts at a neighborhood gathering. The award was presented for his work in conjunction with a number of volunteers in the neighborhood at a local public elementary school. John and his group of hardworking volunteers saw an unused asset in the community – an almost “state of the art” greenhouse on the third floor of the Gale Academy school building. |
The greenhouse was being used to store unused desks and other equipment. John and his volunteers decided to turn the space into a classroom for the students at the school by growing flowers and vegetables and offering them for sale to the community. They busied themselves with building tables to hold the plants, constructing a water channeling system, and planting seeds that later they transplanted into plastic flats and hanging baskets. | |
| More than 80 volunteers contributed their time and energy to the project, most of them parents and students who had never before planted and grown anything. They proudly sold their flowers and vegetables in the late spring and early summer and earned more than $1800 which will be used to expand the project for next year. |
They are partnering with Chicago Botanical Gardens staff to use the greenhouse as a classroom for every class in the school this year. Eventually they hope the project will become financially self-sustaining and will even bring enough income to fund other special programs at the school. Through these efforts Neighbors United in New Possibilities and Many Peoples Church are becoming known and trusted presences in Rogers Park and the Kingdom of God is being advanced through this community transformation. | |
