Hello Community Food and Garden Network-

   The Community Garden Division at the Community Action Coalition for South Central WI, Inc is under threat of getting a $40,000 funding cut in sustaining City of Madison funds, (which is about 40% of the budget).  The Community Garden Division coordinates and supports 16 of Madison's community gardens by working on their development, their organizing and providing technical and support services.  The Garden Division also sponsors 2 Americorps VISTA's who work on developing and enhancing garden programming for children/youth, seniors and people with disabilities (the Access For All Project).      

    One of the most effective ways the VISTAs get this done is by facilitating and staffing the Community Food and Garden Network.  The Network is a dedicated group of individuals and organizations who advocate for the use of gardens as a way of enhancing the quality of life for all people. 

    If funding is cut, the Community Garden Division’s ability to provide this support will suffer greatly.  We will not be able to provide the same level of assistance to schools, community centers, non-profits and other groups that benefit from our experience, expertise and technical assistance. 

    If you are concerned about the proposed funding cut, please share your concerns with your Madison alder person or the Mayor.  Our Representatives need to know how important gardens are in leading a happy and healthy lifestyle.  Attached is a letter sent to the community gardeners with more specifics, contact information and also a page about the Community Garden Division's contribution to Madison. 

    Thank you for your time.  We look forward to serving you in the future~Ashleigh

A group of gardeners is planning to attend the Mayor’s budget hearing
next Thursday, August 26 at 6:30 p.m. to talk with him about this. 
Please let us know if you would like to come too.



Thank you and happy harvesting,

Janet Parker                             Joe Mathers                                  
Greta Hansen, CAC Executive Director

608-246-4730 ex. 218                          608-246-4730 ext. 212                         
608-246-4730 ext. 217

janetp@... <mailto:janetp@...>                            
joem@... <mailto:joem@...>                              
ghansen@... <mailto:ghansen@...> 



CAC Community Gardens
1717 N. Stoughton Road
Madison, WI 53704-2605
www.cacscw.org/gardens <http://www.cacscw.org/gardens>





Accomplishments of CAC Community Gardens



2003 – 2004



Clearinghouse / Education (for 24 gardens, approximately 1,000
gardening families)

q       Provide referrals for new gardeners throughout Madison. 
Maintain a map of all 24 community gardens and garden info packets for
requesting plots.  Garden info packets were mailed out in English and Spanish
to over 100 people who requested it in 2004.  The packet is at:
www.cacscw.org/gardens .

q       Publish and mail a quarterly newsletter for gardeners, maintain
garden bulletin boards.

q       Lead classes in the gardens.  Topics have included Hmong
Gardening Methods & Organic Pest Control.

q       Support 8 gardens for children and youth.



Support for Garden Leaders (for 7 gardens, 329 gardening families: St.
Paul, Gammon, Old Sauk, Sheboygan, Quann, Reynolds, Atwood)

q       Organize to encourage diverse gardeners to work together to
make their gardens places where community grows.  CAC staff recruits
volunteers who lead the gardens.  Key volunteer roles at each garden are
Coordinator, Registrar, and Treasurer, and some gardens have more roles,
including Hmong representative, Latino representative, Water
Coordinator, Monitoring Coordinator, and Grounds Leader. 

q       Help volunteers set the season calendar at each garden,
announce major events through newsletter and postcard mailings, and staff each
garden's Registration, Opening Day, Workdays and Closing Day.

q       Organize the Community Food and Garden Network, a group that
meets monthly, with membership of over 30 local organizations that serve
children, seniors and the physically challenged.



Diversity / Outreach

q       Offer interpretation during garden meetings into Hmong and
Spanish, and translation of written materials into Spanish. 

q       Facilitate Hmong, other Southeast Asians, and Latinos'
successful leadership of their gardens.

q       Reach out to non-English speakers, low income residents, people
of color, and people with physical challenges to inform them about the
gardens; including visits door-to-door, leafleting, tabling at
community events, and media campaigns.



Materials (for 14 gardens, 571 gardening families: St. Paul, Gammon,
Old Sauk, Sheboygan, Quann, Reynolds, Baird, Badger, Nygard, Rimrock,
Reindahl, Truax, Waunona, Troy)

q       Provide free tools, seeds, and plants, and supply mulch,
compost and water.  Also at Atwood and  Marlborough Park Gardens, provide
free seeds and plants.



Maintenance

q       Do all maintenance for 6 gardens (Baird, Badger, Nygard,
Rimrock, Reindahl, Truax).  This includes tilling the plots in spring, mowing
the lawn in summer, and maintaining the water systems.

q       Maintain water systems (with volunteers) at 4 more gardens.

q       Negotiate and hold liability insurance for 14 gardens; hold
leases for 10 gardens.



Improvement Projects

q       Help gardeners with 2 major building projects – a new water
system for Atwood Garden and a new fence for Quann – including
assistance with planning and project design, application to the City for
funding, and building during summer of 2004.

q       Built more than 20 raised beds at 8 sites for gardeners with
physical challenges. 



Major Milestones 2000 – 2002

q       Launched new gardens: Quann (2001), Reynolds (2000), Southdale
(2000)

q       Relocated: Reindahl (2000), Waunona (former Simpson) (2001), 
Troy East to consolidated Troy (2001), Gammon (2002)

q       Added an acre to Troy Community Garden and cleared 2 acres of
land for Troy CSA farm (2001), doubled size of Troy water system (2002),
established  the Troy Teaching Land Youth project (2002) (to provide
mentoring/job training) , cleared .5 acre for use at Rimrock (2002),
helped organize & establish the Friends of Troy Gardens (2001 -02), helped
to organize the Southside Farmers Market (2001), built first ADA
accessible garden beds at Reynolds (2002)





Who Are The Community Gardeners?



CAC's gardeners are a diverse group of families, most of them low
income and renters.  In 2002, there were 313 families with plots at the
gardens CAC serves, in 2003 there were 402 families, and this year there
are 611 families (we are serving 2 more gardens this year, and
registration is up 95% over our 2002 numbers at the other 14 gardens).  Many
gardeners share plots with friends.  Those friends are not counted in these
figures; only the primary gardener’s family is counted.  Below is a
2003 demographic snapshot of the people we serve.



Families with garden plots in 2003

402



People in those families

1263



Families at or below 50% of the Dane County Median Income ($36,019 for
a family of 4)

245

61%

Families at or below the Federal poverty line ($18,400 for a family of
4)

127

32%

Families who rent their home

252

63%

People without health insurance

152

12%

People who are disabled

99

8%

Asian/Pacific Islander

669

53%

White/ not Hispanic

486

38%

Hispanic Origin

49

4%

Black

36

3%





To find out which alder represents your neighborhood, click here: 
www.cityofmadison.com/council/index.html



DISTRICT & NAME
(Click on name for website)

PHONE

E-MAIL ADDRESS

1 Linda Bellman
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District01/index.html>

274-0589

district1@... <mailto:district1@...>



2 Brenda Konkel
<http://www.ci.madison.wi.us/council/District02/index.html>

251-2412

district2@... <mailto:district2@...>



3 Warren Onken
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District03/index.html>

244-7480

district3@... <mailto:district3@...>



4 Michael Verveer
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District04/index.html>

255-6498

district4@... <mailto:district4@...>



5 Robbie Webber
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District05/index.html>

233-1390

district5@... <mailto:district5@...> 



6 Judy Olson
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District06/index.html>

245-0557

district6@... <mailto:district6@...>



7 Zach Brandon
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District07/index.html>

1-877-258-2641

district7@... <mailto:district7@...>



8 Austin King
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District08/index.html>

213-0104

district8@... <mailto:district8@...>



9 Paul Skidmore
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District09/index.html>

829-1921

district9@... <mailto:district9@...>



10 Ken Golden
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District10/index.html>

238-4370

district10@...
<mailto:district10@...>



11 Jean MacCubbin
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District11/index.html>

238-4863

district11@...
<mailto:district11@...>



12 Brian Benford
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District12/index.html>

332-3098

district12@...
<mailto:district12@...>



13 Matt Sloan
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District13/index.html>

250-6664

district13@...
<mailto:district13@...>



14 Tim Bruer
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District14/index.html>

298-0060

district14@...
<mailto:district14@...>



15 Gregory Markle
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District15/index.html>

244-7783

district15@...
<mailto:district15@...>



16 Judy Compton
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District16/index.html>

221-2567

district16@...
<mailto:district16@...>



17 Santiago Rosas
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District17/index.html>

244-9197

district17@...
<mailto:district17@...> 



18 Paul Van Rooy
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District18/index.html>

663-9500

district18@...
<mailto:district18@...>



19 Steve Holtzman
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District19/index.html>

233-6056

district19@...
<mailto:district19@...>



20 Cindy Thomas
<http://www.cityofmadison.com/council/District20/index.html>

271-5201

district20@...
<mailto:district20@...>



Mailings to Alderpersons may be sent to:

Common Council Office 
210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Room 417, City-County Building   Madison WI 53703-0001

To leave a message for your alder with a live person, call their office
staff at 266-4071.