- © 2004-9 Growing Hope
non-profit *green* web hosting
by Red Acorn
Dan is a retired computer application systems professional a Ypsilanti resident since 1968. His wife Lynn has recently retired after 35 years teaching English and Drama in the Ypsilanti public schools. Since retirement, he has been planting trees and volunteering and or-ganizing with groups like the Master Gardener program, the Michigan Stewardship Network, and the First Unitarian Congregation of Ann Arbor. Dan is a “perpetual student” with a BA in Sociology and Anthropology from Antioch College, an MA in Sociology from Penn State, and all but a PhD disserta-tion in Sociology from U. of M. He has had numerous other educational experiences including build-ing microcomputers and harpsichords from kits, restoring old houses, and is presently engaged with an ongoing self-directed study of the literature on Ecological Restoration. In support of his volunteer-ing he recently completed a certificate program in Power Equipment Technology at Washtenaw Community College so he could be more productive using and maintaining power tools. He has long been an active but somewhat invisible volunteer with Growing Hope who recently stepped up to join the board. He has delivered numerous pickup loads of mulch and humus to Growing Hope gardens. His big rototiller is called the “Arvid Jensen Memorial Tiller” after his long time next door neighbor and friend who used it to maintain his backyard garden for 25 years. It is “on call” when new gardens are being established.
Pauline A. Bigby is an educator. She is an Ypsilanti resident who has been involved with local schools and community organizations for many years. She has served as a teacher or administrator for grades 1-graduate school, with experiences on the East Coast, in the South, and the Midwest. She retired from the Ann Arbor Public Schools in 2004, and currently serves as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Michigan, her alma mater. Her business, Splendor Educational Consulting, provides literacy training for youth, families, and educators. Also, she uses her business as a vehicle for providing services and programs to enhance academic achievement and cultural enrichment for youth and their families through community and organizational partnerships. In terms of being a gardener, she reports that she “likes to dig in the dirt.” 2006 was her first year as an organic gardener.
Ellen is a clinical and information system analyst at the University of Michigan Health Systems. She is a Superior Township resident and was previously a member of the Superior Land Conservancy Board, and also supports the Southeastern Michigan Land Conservancy efforts to preserve open space. She helped Estabrook Elementary school in Ypsilanti start a fledgling school garden in 2005, and competes with the deer, rabbits and ground hogs to grow what she can at home – mostly herbs and flowers. She is a member of Slow Food Huron Valley Convivium and enjoys the camaraderie of a long meal with friends and local foods.
Ms. Burt, a native Hoosier, dedicates her time and talents to improving urban areas and their ability to positively affect the lives of their residents. Ms. Burt, a licensed real estate salesperson, received a Masters in Urban Planning and Bachelors in Sports Management and Communications from the University of Michigan. She also possesses extensive experience in non-profit management including program evaluation, capacity building and training and social marketing. Khalilah lent her unique blend of skills to a diverse array of projects including a multi-million dollar hotel renovation, a multi-year evaluation of after-school programs and the marketing of Hoosier Park, subsidiary of Churchill Downs. Ms. Burt currently works for the Downtown Detroit Partnership, a private/public partnership of corporate and civic leaders, whose signature programs are the NEXT DETROIT: Clean Downtown initiative and the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix.
Having volunteered for Growing Hope as an AmeriCorps*VISTA, Lynne Chaimowitz got her hands dirty and continues to get more involved in Growing Hope after join-ing the Board of Directors in January 2008. With a B.A. from the Program in the Environment at the University of Michigan, Lynne currently keeps busy while working for a national non-profit, the Animals and Society Institute, as well as being the Technical Assistant to the Director at the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. To help people improve live and communities through gardening, Lynne strives to make Growing Hope as fiscally sound as possible! For that reason, Lynne is currently pursuing her Master's Degree in Accounting, Lynne hopes to become a Certified Public Accountant and specialize in nonprofit accounting after she completes her degree from Eastern Michigan University. With the rest of her free time, Lynne likes to feed her worms and preach the amazing possibilities of vermicomposting to non-believers.
Ms. Cuhran is currently Coordinator of Investigations at the Fair Hous-ing Center of Southeastern Michigan, a non-profit that works to eliminate illegal housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and/or familial status. Ms. Cuhran has a Masters in Women’s Studies from Eastern Michigan University, and a Bachelors in sociology from Grand Valley State University. She is actively involved in the Ypsilanti community as Secretary of the Midtown Neighborhood Association (4 years) and co-coordinator of the Ypsilanti Bicycling Coalition. Ms. Cuhran has a plot at the community garden in her neighborhood, as well as a garden at her house, and a share at Boxelder Acres CSA. She has been interested in food issues since a young age and has worked in numerous health food stores, food co-ops, and alternative healing establish-ments. Ms. Cuhran is a lover of good food-preferably local-and is constantly intrigued by food growth and production. In addition, her Master’s thesis was about food scarcity in the United States.
Ms. Donahue is an Advanced Master Gardener and is actively involved in community outreach. She directs the Grow and Learn Garden program at Starfish Family Services, a non-profit in Inkster that serves 300 at-risk youth and their families. She is the Executive Director of the Taylor Conservatory Foundation, a non-profit creating a botanical garden for residents of southeast Michigan. She is co-founder of the Goodwill Garden, a community garden that also focuses on growing organic produce for local food banks in partnership with the 23rd District Court’s non-violent offenders program. She served 10 years on the Taylor Garden Club board, and is former chair of the Wayne County Conservation District.
With a background in environmental justice, environmental education, and social activism, Amanda Edmonds wears many hats as a garden organizer, educator, mentor, and leader. She is the founder and executive director of Growing Hope, serves on the board of directors of the American Community Gardening Association, is the chair of the MSU-Extension Advisory Council in Washtenaw County, a member of the Ypsilanti Parks & Recreation Commission, steering committee for the Ypsilanti Healthy Food Access Initiative, and former leadership team member for Slow Food Huron Valley. Ms. Edmonds is also an avid swing dancer and vegetable photographer.
Ms. Sheldon is the Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Program Administrator for the Washtenaw County Health Department. She received her MPH from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She is active in gardening in her home community of West Branch, Michigan (northeast Michigan), where she teaches healthy cooking classes to kids and adults. Sharon also loves being active, through yoga, running, and more!
Aubrey was raised in the Ypsilanti community in the Historic Southside neighborhood just a few blocks from downtown. She has been interested in food since a young age when she started working in restaurants and at the Ypsilanti Food Co-op. She has worked at Zingerman’s Delicatessen in the retail department for the last 5 years, and is currently employed as a cheese maker for Zingerman’s Creamery. She has done internships for the organization Slow Food in Italy for Terra Madre (2004), for sustainable agriculture at the Tenuta di Spannocchia in Italy where she was in charge of the animals (pigs, chickens, cows, horses), for Earthscape/Fullcircle farm a CSA in Hesperia, MI, in Cheese making with Zingerman’s Creamery, for cheese aging and retailing an internship at Neal’s Yard Dairy; the hub of traditional cheese in the UK. She loves to learn about food production and the socio political construct around food. Over the years she has visited a number of dairies, olive oil producers, salami makers and farms. Aubrey is a budding gardener, and a budding “fermenter” her and her life partner make cheese, beer and wine at home, every year they put a little more up and buy a lot less. They hope to one day have their own farm. Aubrey loves the Ypsilanti Community and has wanted for years to find a way to support Growing Hope