Spokane's New Roots Garden Connects Refugees to Their Culture

New Roots Community Garden is a joint project between the International Rescue Committee and the YMCA of the Inland Northwest. Cassy Benefield visits the garden to hear from Angela Hanni from the YMCA and Madison Beal and Bikash Chhetri from the IRC.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

This is Jason Jones with Faves News. In Spokane, Washington, a unique community garden is helping refugees stay connected to their home countries while also finding a place of connection here in Spokane. The New Roots Community Garden, located behind the North Spokane YMCA, features foods that are native to many refugee groups who now call Spokane home. The New Roots Garden is a joint project between the International Rescue Committee and the YMCA of the Inland Northwest. And the garden provides refugees with the ability to grow healthy foods from their home countries that might be difficult to find in Spokane. Faith's News reporter and associate editor Cassie Benefield recently visited the garden to speak with the project's leaders, Angela Hanney from the YMCA and Maddie Beale and Bakash Chetri from the IRC Spokane. Here's Angela Hanney.

SPEAKER_03 0:54

This garden specifically benefits a community that's underserved, not only with fresh but nutritious food.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

I didn't realize you also sourced the food for them to buy, for them to grow.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

How at the very beginning uh we did. We sourced all of the seeds from countries we could. We did a little survey, and um they just told us some seeds that they wanted. We got what we could locally, which was a lot. And then um I went into the internet and started searching for seeds and found a place to buy. Um, I think I got like 10 different types of seeds. And so not sure how many actually were sustained and growable in this area. So they, after they were done growing last year, I know that they saved a lot of the seeds and they did a lot of their own starts this year from those seeds.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Angela noted the garden is a joint project between the two groups.

SPEAKER_03 1:55

100% credit to the IRC and their team and their clients. They want to do it. They want to feed more, their clients want to work more, they want to do the growing, they want to feed their community. And as long as we have the space for them to expand, we're gonna, I'm gonna keep letting them.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

For Bakash Chetri, his work with the refugee community grows out of his own experience.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

I am originally from Nepal. Um, I was born in Raffuji County, Nepal. Um, I grew up with my grandparents. I came to United States with my grandparents like about 15 years ago. Yes, and uh, you know, when I came to the United States, I didn't know how to speak English. I learned the English language at Ferris High School. I graduated from Ferris High School back in 2015 and um went to university at Eastern Washington University while living in one bedroom apartment by myself, working a full-time job. It wasn't easy, but I did it. And now I'm working with IRC, working with uh the youth team.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Here is Maddie Beal from the IRC.

SPEAKER_04 3:06

I think there's an adage about this in like every culture, every language. Like food does bring people together and having that experience in a gargoon. It is, it's a way to like build new family, a new community here, too. So I think that's something we saw with the youth mentorship program of a bunch of different high school youth who maybe would never have connected from very different communities, very different language groups.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

Just out of curiosity, like what is the success story you guys would want to share with your youth program?

SPEAKER_01 3:34

So, you know, a lot of youths they're coming from all around the world, right? So many different things.

SPEAKER_04 3:39

Can you tell me some names?

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Um, I can oh yeah, Afghanistan.

SPEAKER_04 3:42

Yeah, yeah, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Absolutely. Uh Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea and uh um and uh Congo. I I used to serve how Congo is, right? Um and and Borma. Borma, we have some uh clients from uh China as well, right? Ukraine, Ukraine, um, Sudan. So, so you know, back home in the refugee camp. All all these youth, they don't have a lot of opportunities, right? There is a limited opportunity. And and and I'm the one of one of the examples sitting right here. And that it's why, like, you know, I came here, finished my school, university, and all of that. And uh what what I'm doing right now is I'm just telling my mentees, the you know, the youth, the youth mentees, that that, hey, you guys do not get a lot of opportunity back home. But here in the United States, you have a lot of opportunities, a lot of doors are open for you. Go out there, take all the advances that this country is providing to you. Here is Maddie Beal again.

SPEAKER_04 4:43

The youth are a great example of some development that gets to happen there. A lot of community and connections that get to happen, but this garden also helps or also facilitates opportunities for adults. So we have uh a really wonderful participant in the program who, you know, faced a lot of challenges when she arrived and really reported having difficulties connecting and feeling very lost and isolated, and I think felt to a degree very just defeated in a lot of things. And then came the garden, came the new roots garden, and she came with all of this really robust agricultural experience that she she herself was like responsible for I think basically when we did the equation, it was like she managed about four acres of garden space in her home country on her own, like with man like manual tools, like amazing. So she came here, and I'm one, she she whooped me into shape because my my pepper management was dismal, apparently. Um, but like you got to see her come to life in this space and engage with people who did not share the same language but had the same goal coming out here and growing food and getting your hands in the dirt. And it was just like a different side of her.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

The New Roots Community Garden is a wonderful example of what can happen when the community comes together for good.

SPEAKER_04 6:04

This project didn't start with a grant that was like go out here and build a beautiful garden. This was the community coming together with the little pieces we had. The Y had this space, and growing neighbors had this connection, and the IRC and our clients had this need. Um, and so just getting to come together and make things work. And it's been amazing to see over four years what it's come to. This little plot started as like a 627 square foot space with primarily like raised garden beds. It was very like recreational. Yeah, yeah. And it was a beautiful space to be. And by hearing clients' desires and seeing the needs in Spokane, this just shifted to almost a 2,120 square foot in-ground garden bed to like really ramp up the production of produce here so that way we can help feed into the food security system in Spokane. So it just again, it's it's pretty unique to live in a city like ours, where we have people who have what they have and come together to make to make things happen. And that's just not the reality that we have everywhere else.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

We are walking with refugees, and even if we change one person's life, right? That is massive.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

This is Jason Jones for Faves News.