By Laura Henderson / Collective operations steward, Growing Places Indy
Indianapolis has long been known as the crossroads of America, with U.S. 40 cutting through and historically overlapping with Washington Street. The creation of White River State Park re-routed the historic route, once known as the National Road – and the GPI Collective UPick Garden is now located along the original path of this American crossroad.
White River State Park continues to be a living crossroads – a place where people from all walks of life and from all over the city, state, nation and the world converge and pass through. It is a place of movement and stillness between home and work, conference and recreation, learning and experiencing, entertainment and rest, congregation and solitude.
Spend time regularly in White River State Park and you will hear a multitude of languages spoken and all variety of musical genres at the amphitheater. It is easy to imagine that the White River has hosted a similar convergence and movement of people for the entire of the 12,000 plus years that people have inhabited the area. We aim to steward the UPick Garden as an opening and welcoming space that honors this long arc of history and offers healing and hope for the future.
In 16 years gardening and growing in White River State Park, so many people (volunteers, program participants, harvesters, visitors, passers-by) have brought their gardening knowledge to the space, sharing and exchanging foodways with our team and with each other – many of them immigrants. This kind of cultural exchange makes the garden and our community – both micro and macro – stronger, healthier and more vibrant. It can also be deeply healing, because finding connection and belonging help us all to feel seen, heard and valued.
For the GPI Collective, stewarding the UPick Garden to be a no-cost, no-barrier source of food, connection, and community is an act of mutuality. It is also a way to honor that whoever you are, wherever you are from, however you identify – you belong here, you are worthy of nourishment, you deserve to thrive. It is a way to acknowledge that my wellbeing is fragile, incomplete, and unsustainable, if the wellbeing of any one else is rendered restricted, denied, or conditional by social structures and conditions.
One of the early motivations for Growing Places Indy was to raise awareness about industrial monoculture farming and the harmful impacts it has on people, the planet and profit. Farmers and farming communities lose, as corporations (or rather corporate owners and executives) profit. While there are no industrial monoculture farms in Urban Times neighborhoods, all of us are still impacted as well.
GPI spent years raising awareness and providing education and training for how to grow your own and participate in local food networks. The GPI Collective now is focused directly on growing community in ways that nurture individual and collective healing and wellbeing. Part of this focus is raising awareness about factors that are harming our neighborhoods and communities and producing negative outcomes, as well as what we can each do to support individual and collective wellbeing, or mutuality of wellbeing.
Just as monoculture agricultural does not produce thriving, bountiful food systems, nor do monoculture societies produce thriving, bountiful societies over time. Efforts to reduce, eliminate or attack multiculturalism and diversity of all kinds hurt the whole, with the brunt of the pain, harm and death imposed by one or more groups over and on to the other group(s). These conditions impose survivalism in ways that are not naturally occurring, but rather socially constructed.
Standing in the UPick Garden, positioned at this historical Indiana and national crossroads, it is easy to observe the benefits of both biodiverse gardens and ecological ecosystems, as well as the benefits of multiculturalism to society. Take a walk through any Urban Times neighborhood and all around you will see the benefits of multiculturalism and diversity of identity. It’s in the food and restaurants, the art galleries and book stores, the theaters and music venues, our schools, sports and fitness studios. Multiculturalism and diversity make our neighborhoods safer, healthier, happier and more welcoming, and yes, they also drive a growing and robust economy.
It is no secret, nor really a debated point, that our society is experiencing a time of heightened cultural divide, and accompanying attacks on multiculturalism and diversity. Our neighborhoods are not immune. There are many Urban Times neighbors working in a variety of ways to support, advocate for and protect neighbors who are direct targets of current attacks. One area of support is immigrant rights.
I was introduced to a group called Indiana AID (Assistance to Immigrants in Detention) by a colleague, and as I got involved I came to learn that several key volunteer leaders are residents of Urban Times neighborhoods. Indiana AID is providing resources, direct aid and support to immigrants and their families impacted by ICE detention in Indiana. You can learn more and get involved at https://www.indianaaid.org/. This work is one way members of the Urban Times community are saying no to mono-culturalism.
Other neighbors support Exodus Refugee through volunteering and donations. Exodus Refugee Immigration is dedicated to the protection of human rights by serving the resettlement needs of refugees and other displaced people fleeing persecution, injustice, and war by welcoming them to Indiana. You can even form a group in your neighborhood to serve as a volunteer group. Learn more at www.exodusrefugee.org.
While Indianapolis has not experienced the level of ICE activity terrorizing our Chicago-land neighbors, the heightened politicalization of immigration and increased ICE activity is affecting our neighborhoods and the lives of individuals and families. Efforts are under way to build a network of preparedness and response for those already impacted and the possibility of future intensification. Continual uncertainty and fear contribute to elevated levels of stress. Indy Rapid Response works to confirm or dispel reported ICE activity, helping to keep neighbors safe and manage stress. Call 855-589-4639 to report the time you saw an incident and where it happened.
We would love to hear and share other efforts to support and stand for the rights of all people to grow and thrive in Indiana. Please email us at laura@growingplacesindy.org to connect.
As long as the garden is growing, we welcome everyone to grow and harvest together.
