SitemapGrowth is being cultivated in myriad ways at Hope for Newport Community Garden.
The garden is an activity in the Bondage Busters program at Martin Luther Lutheran Church, 420 Clearmount Drive, which is in the Newport neighborhood.
Carole Conatser, a church member since 1987, coordinates the garden outreach program.
“The idea started after I noticed a few other community gardens,” she said. Two houses were demolished on Clearmount, across the street from the church, and the plots provided a good space for the garden. Trees provide shade where children gather to read books on gardening and nature themes.
Conatser credited Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. with help in preparing the space. After a general clean-up, six raised beds were constructed and a 40-by-50-foot plot tilled. Marty Reschner, a church member, and Conatser wrote the grant; he and Diana Tabor assist in the garden.
Through another grant from Neighborhood SUCCESS and Leadership Program of the Raymond John Wean Foundation in Warren, the aspiring garden project bought supplies and materials such as plants, seeds, gardening tools, gloves and books. The Difference Makers donated gift cards to buy other supplies.
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