BERKELEY – Throughout the late spring and summer, vegetables were planted and cared for. Now, the Sadie Vickers CommUnity Garden will continue to grow and take care of the residents of Manitou Park.
Volunteers from the neighborhood and from CMC and Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health installed 100 planters that will grow fruits and vegetables. The garden is on First Avenue, across from the Holy Temple Church Of God In Christ.
Reverend David Graham, who also serves as the chief executive officer of the Sadie Vickers Community Resource Center, said that this will be an “oasis in the midst of a supermarket desert.”
There are fast food and convenience stores nearby, but it’s a bit of a trek to get to a grocery store. This means that it’s easier for people to grab quick, unhealthy meals rather than the better alternatives that would normally be out of their reach.
“We have literally changed the landscape of the community,” he said.
Furthermore, he spoke about the “Wellness On Wheels” bus where residents will learn how to cook meals using vegetables grown in the garden.
Derrick Grant and Johanna Grant, members of the church, brought their young children to the garden’s ribbon cutting and told the crowd how convenient it will be for families to gather what they need right from their own neighborhood.
“Recently, both of our cars were down,” Johanna said. “We didn’t have a way to get to the store.”
“I’ve lived here my whole life. We never had anything like this,” Derrick said.
Pat Ahearn, chief executive officer of Community Medical Center, said that their mission is to promote “the health of the community – it doesn’t say within the walls of the institution.”
Food insecurity is a real threat to many households. He said that so far in 2024, the hospital system donated 35,000 pounds of food.
Mark Manigan, president and chief executive officer of RWJ Barnabas Health, said that providing healthy food and cooking options will prevent people from needing more medical care. The hospital system partners with faith-based and other organizations that are on the ground and know where best to direct their efforts.
This garden will help provide a safety net for the local residents, he said.
The next step here is to build a greenhouse so that the garden can grow year-round, said Karen Rawls, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director at CMC.
She said that when assessing the needs of a community, food insecurity ranks among the largest concerns.
The ribbon cutting also included Ocean County Commissioner Barbara Jo Crea, Senator (and former Berkeley Mayor) Carmen Amato, and Assemblyman Brian Rumpf reading proclamations praising the project.
The garden project took 85 volunteers from April to August, said Chaplain Barbara Miles, a community liaison for the Sadie Vickers Resource Center, said that these organizations stepping foot in a usually overlooked area puts the “community” in Community Medical Center.
It’s right next door to the Sadie Vickers Resource Center, which was named after a prominent resident who always offered a helping hand and a helping of food.
It serves as a bridge connecting Manitou Park to services they might not be able to reach otherwise, Miles said. There’s no public transportation and some people don’t have vehicles.
The Center, on First Avenue in Manitou, is more accessible. There’s a calendar of events where organizations can send a representative to have boots on the ground in an underserved community. There are computers inside for people to fill out applications or important documents.
“A lot of people don’t know where to go” for help, she said. That’s why they open their building not only to the residents who have questions, but organizations that have answers.
Agencies like Bright Harbor Healthcare or the Ocean County Board of Social Services visit at scheduled times, and residents can come in to talk.
The group is always looking for volunteers. If you need help or if you are looking for help, you can visit find them at sadievickers.org; 1-848-226-3930; info@sadievickers.org
