Located in a food desert area, the Unity Garden is a community garden on the property of Kettering Health Dayton. Nestled off of Neal Avenue, the community garden offers healthy, organically grown foods.
Focused on providing food for the refugee-rich community that it neighbors, the garden is growing some produce in demand with different African immigrant communities such as African Eggplant, Amaranth, and more.
Bruce Kidney, project manager of the Unity Garden and nurse at Kettering Health, spent the past year connecting with refugees close to the garden to find what they needed for their community.
He also connected with organizations such as No Longer Strangers, Welcome Dayton, and the Mission of Mary Cooperative. He said through extensive outreach and cooperation with community members, he was able to source and grow staples from different neighbors' traditional cuisine.
Community landlord Toan Vo, who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam, has also been involved in connecting community members to the garden.
According to Vo, the garden is always looking for help both inside and outside the community.
“The biggest thing we always like to do is find volunteers," he said. "I mean buying plants is one thing, but getting to do that work is tough. Especially when you are out in the sun.”
Kidney said Vo has been in the community for a long time and he understands the challenges and support refugees need.
"And so he reaches out to Catholic Social Services and helps facilitate their arrival and settling in his properties when they first come to the Dayton area," Kidney said.
The garden will install an orchard and berry patches this year with the help of a Keep Montgomery County Beautiful grant. These additions will produce apples, peaches, pears, cherries, blackberries, and raspberries.
Community members who want to get involved with the garden can email Kidney directly at Unitygardendyt@gmail.com.
"We also have a platform now on MailChimp where you can go in and enter your email address, and then you can receive updates and newsletters from us to let you know about volunteer opportunities, growing opportunities and some other small items that are included in that," Kidney said.
