Little City - Big Hearts

Last spring I met with members of the staff and board of Little City Foundation. This wonderful organization has a rich history in Palatine where it supports people with developmental disabilities through housing and services. Many come to Little City as children and stay their whole lives. I met with them to discuss a gardening program they had in mind. Here is what we learned from each other in the meeting: Gardening brings so much more to a community than growing vegetables. Little City wanted to have a Pumpkin Patch. They wanted to sell pumpkins to the surrounding communities that had popped up over the years. Most of these neighbors hadn’t visited Little City and likely didn’t know who they were or what they did. The organization wanted to welcome these neighbors with open arms. Here is what gardening became: *Educational – for those learning about how to garden who live at Little City. *Exercise – for those who worked in the garden. Some even lost weight! *Nutritional – for those who ate from the harvest. Food from a plastic bag had been more attractive for some before they saw how produce is grown. *Community Development – for those who came to visit Little City during the Fall Harvest Festival. The people living around Little City became neighbors. *Economic Development – for Little City when they sold the crops at the Fall Harvest Festival. Residents learned to manage the crops and the store. It speaks to the holistic approach that U of I Extension takes to communities and issues. Both Little City and Extension are better for having worked together, and this year we have even bigger plans, and a bigger plot of land!