Each summer, St. °µÍř˝űÇř community members come together to tend the Celeste’s Dream community gardens. In partnership with the St. Kate’s/CSJ Food Access Hub, CSJs, students, alumni, and neighbors build community through their sustainable practices and mission-driven initiatives to help alleviate hunger in the Twin Cities. In May, St. Paul newspaper published an article highlighting the gardens and volunteers and their effort to provide fresh produce to those facing food insecurity.
“Two things bring me back to the St. Kate’s gardens each summer,” said Barbara Parisien, a regular caretaker to the community garden, “the people, young and old, working together each Tuesday evening, and the fact that we’re providing healthy food for people who can’t afford to buy fresh vegetables.”
The gardens have been steadily growing in community involvement over the past 19 years, explained Jennifer Tacheny, director of Celeste’s Dream Young Adult Spirituality and the St. Kate’s/CSJ Food Access Hub.
“In 2004 the ministry convened a group of young adults from the Twin Cities to discuss authentic community building and contributing to the common good,” said Tacheny. “The idea to host a community garden sprang from those conversations with the goal to intentionally grow more than we need so we can share it.”
While St. Kate’s students regularly enjoy the benefits of the gardens at the Food Access Hub, other community members utilize this resource as well, including St. Kate’s faculty and staff, residents of the Project Home family shelter, and patients at the St. Mary’s Health Clinics, both of which are in partnership with the the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
The gardens provide an abundance of food to the local community, not only helping alleviate food insecurity, but also bringing people together, forming friendships, and promoting sustainable practices. Jill Underdahl, CSJ, ’92, a member of the CSJ leadership team, has been involved with the CSJ garden since the beginning.
“At the foundation of this garden is community,” said Underdahl. “The vibrancy and harvest of this garden rely on people in community showing up in body, mind, and heart to make decisions, work, and enjoy all that happens. That’s community and giving at its best.”
About the St. Kate’s/CSJ Food Access Hub and Celeste’s Dream Garden
If you are interested in utilizing the Food Access Hub, the doors are open on the first and third Wednesday of every month from 12–6 p.m. and it is located in the Carondelet Center Kitchen 101, on the CSJ campus across from The O'Shaughnessy. If the food shelf's open hours do not accommodate your availability, reach out to foodshelf@stkate.edu to arrange a pick-up time that works with your schedule.
The Food Access Hub is seeking volunteer support for the first and third Wednesdays of each month from 10 a.m to 6:30 p.m. Volunteers are also needed for food delivery stocking on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. If you have an additional bilingual skill in Spanish, Hmong, ASL, or Somali, your assistance would be very much appreciated. All who are interested in helping may fill out the online interest form. Contact smhowell502@stkate.edu with any questions.
All are welcome to join the gardening efforts! Volunteering in the gardens takes place 5–7 p.m. on Tuesdays from late May through October, with an average of about 25 volunteers, from college-age volunteers to older adults. For more information, contact jtacheny@csjstpaul.org.
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