Updates

We've been quietly busy lately - I gave two workshops at Center for Advanced Studies and the Arts, a consortium I attended my senior year of high school, one for the European History class and another for the Environmental Science students. Overall, I felt the workshop was well-received and the students were interested in (or at least respectful of) the issues presented. The AP Environmental Science instructor is already very involved with Detroit agriculture - her only recommendation was that the next time I do a presentation, I bring a goat with me!

We're also still pursuing the idea of a therapy garden at the Children's Center. Currently, we're putting together a proposal for the center to look at; perhaps we'll send it to other places that serve vulnerable children as well. Once that's done, we have grant applications to do and Americorps volunteers to apply for.

Update: Therapy Garden

Not so long ago, I posted about "nature deficit disorder" and my concerns for Detroit's children. As a step toward ameliorating this problem, I've talked to a contact at the Children's Center of Wayne County about establishing a therapy garden there to be used for individual and group sessions. He liked the initial idea and will "kick it around" with someone who knows more about their buildings and grounds.

This afternoon, I met with Myung Ju, a monk/architect at the Detroit Zen Center, to discuss the requirements and costs of the type of green roof that would be necessary at the Children's Center if there isn't ground-level space available for a therapy garden. She was very helpful and encouraging, although she cautioned that with the increased weight of a green roof, re-framing is necessary in many buildings. I hope to meet with someone at the Children's Center soon to learn more about their building structure and materials so that we can better estimate costs.

I was also excited to find out that the DTE building in Detroit has the same kind of green roof that we'd like for the Children's Center - high intensity, which allows for people to walk on the roof (of course, this requires more structural work because it's heavier). She also mentioned that Chicago has multiple green roofs worth visiting. If we manage to take a trip out to Milwaukee this summer to visit Growing Power and some other organizations, a stop in Chicago may be in order.

What do you think about the idea of green therapy? Have you ever seen a green roof?

Nature Deficit Disorder

I was reading The Engaged Scholar Volume 4 (a publication of Michigan State University's Outreach and Engagement Office) when I came across a phrase I'd never heard before: nature deficit disorder. Fortunately, it listed the book where the term originated, Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. In 20 minutes, I was on my way to the library.

The author makes it clear that nature deficit disorder is not a medical/clinical diagnosis, but rather observation of a trend in which children spend less time outdoors, often have limited access to green space, and thereby have a different relationship to nature. The book also focuses on the calming effects of nature, including the use of green therapy for children with ADHD.

This, of course, started me thinking on Detroit. With high crime rates and lots of cement, it seems to follow many of the patterns listed in the book. However, in many areas, pheasants are sighted in the prairie grasses that have grown over vacant lots. The city has high rates of lead poisoning, which can cause behavioral and cognitive issues in children. ADHD is also prevalent.

With Detroit's agricultural revolution and the efforts to make the city greener, there also comes an opportunity to lead in green therapy and other alternative approaches to children's special needs. We hope soon to establish a partnership between the Children's Center in Detroit and appropriate departments at Michigan State to try green therapy on a small scale.

Update: Catherine Ferguson Academy

Recently I published a post about Catherine Ferguson Academy (CFA), a high school for pregnant teens with a working farm on its campus. They're keeping their minds open about the move to merge with Nancy Boykin, but they do have many concerns.

Here's a link to a video made as CFA defended its programs: http://www.youtube.com/user/mmforman01#p/a/u/0/2lPL6FOvMug

The most meaningful quote to me: "We are going to take some of our knowledge that we've learned about growing plants and animals. I also want to say about agricultural program. Agriculture is now the leading industry in Michigan again. It used to be autos, but they took a dive. So, we are on the forefront. There's a lot of jobs in agriculture. So we think we've got something going strong here."

Catherine Ferguson Academy

When we were beginning to plan UAID, a friend down at Wayne State tipped me off about a school in Detroit specifically for teen moms and pregnant teens that used innovative educational strategies, including parenting classes, an on-site garden, and livestock. Its name: Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women (CFA). I had to check it out, so last spring I went down to volunteer for a day. The scope of the agricultural project, the partnership with Greening of Detroit, and the leadership I saw from the schools principal all convinced me that this was a place where real learning was taking place. Later, I had the opportunity to read a dissertation done on CFA. For more information about the school, check out this article. You can also listen to a student interview on CBC Windsor.

We had hoped to partner with Ferguson, but it's now on the Detroit Public Schools list of schools to be closed. Their vision fits closely with ours, given that they're using education and agriculture to break cycles of poverty and empower young women. CFA should eventually be re-located to join with another school for pregnant teens, but there has been no mention of intention to keep the agricultural component of the project.

If this is an issue that interests you, here are a few ways to get involved.

1. Write to Robert Bobb and ask him to visit the school, review the programs, and consider how to keep the school open or maintain current programs at a new site. His e-mail address is robert.bobb@detroitk12.org.

2. Watch for news about public hearings and attend them.

3. Volunteer at Ferguson. You can write to Dana Applebaum at applebaumdana@googlemail.com for more information.