Nurturing Good Health, Community, and Love!

Rachel Bowling, Lead Caseworker at Samaritan Ministry's Arlington location, had a hunch that Michael would enjoy helping build a community garden at the office earlier this month. But she had no idea just how much impact it would have on him and her other Next Step program participants until after the work got underway.

"Heavens to goodness, Rachel. I really enjoyed yesterday — made me feel good, it was a spiritual uplift," Michael wrote to her in a text after using a day off from his restaurant job to help construct and seal the garden's three 8' by 4' wooden raised bed frames.

National Capitol Area BSA Troop 248 member Zoe F., a parishioner at Samaritan partner congregation St. John's, Lafayette Square, led the project over two sweltering June weekends as part of her requirements to become an Eagle Scout.

The garden also set a new example for what imaginative forms Samaritan's annual summer Empower our Neighbors in Need (ENN) campaign events could take, as it provided a chance to raise awareness of the struggles faced by Samaritan's Next Step participants — who are often homeless, recently incarcerated, or facing another of life's crises without adequate support — and invite others to join Samaritan in being a part of the solution.

After the garden boxes were built, volunteers filled them with nutritious soil amendments, planted them with a mix of strawberry and 14 different vegetable plants, and rabbit-proofed them with a chicken-wire fence. By the project's completion after three days of work, more than 20 volunteers from across the region — and ranging in age from preschool to retirement — had lended a hand.

"It's been such a unifying force," Rachel said, noting that strangers have stopped to ask about the handsome redwood-colored boxes and learn about Samaritan. Unprompted, Next Step participants have been dropping by on weekends to keep the garden watered, and everyone is talking about the first fruits of their labors — small green globes that are sure to quickly ripen into sweet tomatoes in the south-east facing sun.

This week, after a participant who had just lost his job was cheered up by the garden, Rachel realized that the sweetness it offers will go far beyond the natural sugars of its sun-ripened produce.

The garden "will be there to be consistently loved and nurtured," Rachel said. "It’s a gentleness and a kindness that is available for [participants] to care for in the midst of more chaotic circumstances.

Going forward, the garden's harvest of cucumbers, peppers and other produce will serve as an important part of Samaritan's food security and nutritional offerings, adding nutrient-packed, fresh whole foods to the mostly shelf-stable packaged foods in Samaritan's existing food pantry.

The harvest will also provide a priceless reminder of how tasty as well as nutritious fresh, whole foods are for participants who have very limited budgets for buying fresh foods for their families — and sometimes have to travel outside their neighborhoods to find them.

If you'd like to help care for the garden or Samaritan's nutrition programs too, contact Samaritan Volunteer Manager Sy Jones at sjones@samaritanministry.org or Arlington Lead Caseworker Rachel Bowling at rbowling@samaritanministry.org about volunteering, or donate here.

EMPOWER OUR

NEIGHBORS IN NEED!

Empower our Neighbors in Need (ENN) is a vibrant annual grassroots campaign aimed at raising awareness of the daunting challenges faced by our region’s most vulnerable residents. It's also a great way to join Samaritan in striving to be a part of the solution.

Ways to support ENN include organizing events, making monetary donations, volunteering, and offering in-kind contributions of toiletries, grocery gift cards, surplus garden produce, and other food.

Learn more at this link!

Photos above of the garden installation at Samaritan's Arlington office by Sarah Wood

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CONTACT US: info@samaritanministry.org • (202) 722-2280 • samaritanministry.org