2022 Scholarship Recipients
This year, when planning for the master class, we had a desire to grow the program by offering a full scholarship to A Year in the Urban Garden.
Knowing that we wanted to pay forward the kindness and help we have received through our gardening journeys, we reached out to the team at West Coast Seeds to see if they would want to collaborate with us on this Scholarship.
Collaboration is so important in the garden as well as in our communities and we are grateful to the team at West Coast Seeds for their support of two scholarships. Their organization is a true Canadian gem and their dedication to helping gardens sprout across our vast country exemplifies their generous spirit.
We are so incredibly honored, humbled and touched by all the applications received for the West Coast Seeds x gardenologie Scholarship. When we set out on this project, we hadn’t anticipated the number of gardeners out there striving to better their communities and help increase food security.
When we conceived this project, we were initially going to award 2 scholarships for A Year in the Urban Garden. However, after reading through over 300 submissions, it became clear that we needed to double that number. Both Luay and Melissa felt it important to individually sponsor 2 additional scholarships. After much consideration, we have selected the following candidates and we can’t wait to embark on this journey together and we are equally committed to learn from them as they are from us.
Hannah E, Vancouver, British Columbia
Hannah E, from Vancouver, BC is a costume designer and professional cook working at the Downtown Eastside Women’s Center, an organization that provides a safe, non-judgmental environment for self-identifying women (cis, trans, 2 Spirit), from all walks of life, who live and/or work in the Downtown Eastside. She helps prepare roughly 300-400 lunches a day with a mix of ingredients that are purchased and donated. Like many people, she started gardening at the start of the pandemic and her interest in food equity and food distribution has led her to spend exceedingly more time in the garden.
“I would love to take my knowledge of gardening much farther and I hope to work in a greater capacity with food systems and food sustainability which for me, begins in the garden.”
Rebecca B, from Toronto, Ontario
Rebecca B, from Toronto, ON is an active learner of gardening, plant medicines, and Anishinaabemowin language. She is Métis with family roots in the Sault Ste. Marie Métis community, registered with the Métis Nation of Ontario. Rebecca facilitates the Asemaa Circles project which supports Indigenous, Black Indigenous, and Black community members to grow their own sacred medicines at home. Rebecca is still learning about food growing. Her goal is to deepen her knowledge so that she can better support her community in medicines and food sovereignty. She is committed to extending what she learns with others in her community.
“To me, gardening is a relationship; it is an opportunity to repair and restore relations with all living beings.”
Ooleepeeka E, Treaty 7, Niitsítapi lands
Ooleepeeka is a prairie Inuk with a deep desire to live the way her ancestors did, in relation to the land and sustainably. She is a member of Campus Roots Community Garden in Lethbridge, Alberta. She has grown medicines (tobacco, calendula, sage) and wants to learn more about soil building, companion planting, native species, community building and food security though gardening, and environmental restoration.
“I know that sharing food and learning these skills will lead us to a more equal and less destructive society. I would use this gardening knowledge to provide for myself, my family and teach others to connect with nature and food in healthy ways.”
Sophia B, from Vancouver, BC is a kitchen supervisor at Raincity Housing - an org that provides all forms of housing and support for unhoused, under-housed and at-risk folks in Vancouver and its surrounding areas. She’s been a chef for two decades and now uses her skills and knowledge of food to help serve a population of people most often overlooked in society. She is overseeing the opening of a new location that will include a dedicated outdoor garden. She will invite residents to join her in creating this garden area. The act of communal gardening not only will reward folks with the amazing gift of food to eat, but it will also give them a sense of dignity and recognition through the act of helping create something that will benefit their community.
“This scholarship would help me become more confident and knowledgeable with gardening, which ultimately would become more solidified in the skill-sharing with residents in our new facility at Green Timbers in Surrey, BC.”
We are thrilled to embark on this journey from seed to plate together and we are equally committed to learn from them as we hope they are from us. We encourage you to learn more about our unique gardening Master Class, A Year in the Urban Garden.
