ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Kingasiatic Allah moves mulch into the Cook Street Park Community Garden in Lynn.
BY BRIDGET TURCOTTE
LYNN — Neighborhood pride is growing at Cook Street Park.
Residents are busy laying fresh soil for gardeners to begin spring planting at the playground’s Community Garden.
The Highlands Coalition, a neighborhood group whose mission is to improve the district, is hopeful that the new green space will replace the violence and gang activity that had overtaken the park, according to David Gass, director.
The coalition launched the park renovation in 2011 after a violent high school fight was caught on tape and went viral. The negative publicity was just what was needed to make positive change to the park, Gass said.
“Gangs burned a park slide here,” he said. “No-kids-land is what I called it. There was nothing for kids here.”
Gass said a new neighbor living next to the garden experienced a pair of armed robberies and wanted to move out of the neighborhood. Gass reassured him that the coalition would make it a better place.
When a home is broken into, the resident either buys a lock, a dog, a gun, or all three, Gass said. Instead, he said they should communicate with neighbors to understand what is happening on their streets.
By 2012, the group developed plans for a community garden to bring neighbors together. Interest started out slow with only 10 residents requesting a garden bed and only five showed up to start planting. Today, neighbors from the diverse neighborhood spend time growing together.
Several of the beds are rented by residents for $25.
Viviane Kamba, a Congolese immigrant, plants amaranth, a grain that provides more protein than wheat, barley and rye, Gass said. The Ouk family created a handmade trellis with twigs and plants a Cambodian garden, including long beans and ginseng.
One garden is maintained by a man from Somalia. Another family plants corn each year and has learned new techniques from other gardeners to grow it more effectively, he said.
The garden also provides children with the opportunity to learn about growing vegetables and healthy eating. About 15 children between the ages of 10 and 20 are hired and paid $2 an hour by the coalition and $8 by the city through the Youthworks program, a religious organization that encourages community work.
“We talk to the kids who are hanging out at the park and say ‘if you’re in school and you’re actually going to school, you can come work for us,’” said Kingasiatic Allah, a coalition member.
Allah said the program teaches the children how to grow vegetables, spend less money at the grocery store and eat healthier.
“We’ve got to keep the kids active,” he said. “If kids don’t have activity, they wind up in trouble. Kids are overworked at school, they’re stressed. That’s what leads to them not wanting to go to school and leads them to the streets.”
The coalition focuses on teaching the children about healthy eating habits. Signs are hung along the fence with witty sayings and facts about food, such as “the whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead.”
This summer, the group hopes to launch Camp Creativity, a licensed after-school program and summer camp, to further its efforts.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.