Mark your calendars for the second annual IHN Camp Out to Stamp Out Family Homelessness.  Join youth groups, families, volunteers and other individuals to learn more about family homelessness. 

The Camp Out to Stamp Out event also features entertainment like face painting, a scavenger hunt, games, talent show, music and crafts. Volunteers will be on hand to serve up soup, sandwiches, coffee, hot chocolate, sodas, popcorn and fruit during your night in Box City. In the morning you eat a muffin and carry your box home to be recycled. Police security will be present during the entire event.

Some youth groups raise funds through car washes, bake sales, flea markets, chili or pancake suppers. All children and youth groups must be supervised by an adult.

Cost is $25 per person. Children under 10 years old free. All proceeds benefit the IHN program to assist homeless families become stable, employed and housed.
 

“I like digging in the dirt,” said one of the children working the garden.  “We planted okra, tomatoes, beans and lettuce.  And we water the garden every day it doesn’t rain.  I don’t think I’ll eat the okra, though.”

Created from recycled railroad ties from the Enterprise South site, which houses the new Volkswagen plant, and rain barrels made from used industrial-sized soap containers, the Hope Garden combines the best of social and civic engagement.  Participants learn by doing while gaining skills critical to a healthy tomorrow.

Bedding plants and seeds were donated by the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, with early consulting provided by the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension.  UT extension agent and master gardener Tom Stebbins was glad to be asked to assist in the project, stating “urban gardening is a perfect opportunity to blend self-sufficiency with city living.”

Kathie Fulgham, Projects Manager for Mayor Littlefield, said “once the idea came along, we needed a social connection.  Workers at the Community Kitchen suggested that urban gardening could benefit the formerly homeless families as they learn to stand alone.”

And that’s what they did.  According to Jens Christensen, Director of Marketing at the Community Kitchen, “engaging the families in the process, and allowing them to eat from the bounty, provides ownership in the urban garden – something homeless families rarely enjoy.”

With continuing horticultural guidance from master gardeners Anne Higuera (from the City’s Parks and Recreation Department) and Lanis Littlefield, the families are learning what it means to create a healthy, sustainable culture that also beautifies what was once a corner of a paved lot. 

So far they’ve planted lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, basil, dill, bush beans, sunflowers and okra; the gardeners have plans for winter crops as well. Ms. Higuera looks forward to finding more opportunities for urban gardens. As she says, “Community gardening is about connecting people back to the basics of growing their own food. It is much more than a hobby.”

For more information about Hope Garden, please contact Kathie Fulgham at fulgham_k@chattanooga.gov or 425-6201.