These fine folks played a vital role in providing the initial support for this project and through the planning phase to make sure that the vision fit in nicely with the Pearson community. CARMA works to keep this project truly community-integrated through various communication channels: Pearson Resident Council, the DABC website, DABC newsletter, and good old fashioned conversation. DABC continues to be a key partner in a multitude of ways. Thank you!!

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This project takes place in the backyard of the people who live at GPC. Residents of GPC are adults of all ages who require daily care to live their lives. They gave their blessings and welcomed outsiders in.

Their vision and support helped create Garden Club, which has run since 2009, where residents tend their own plots, with the support of volunteers, Master Gardeners, GPC Rec staff and Farmers on 57th staff.

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At the helm of 2008 GPC manager Liz Bloomfield we were allowed to convert 1 acre of George Pearson Centre lawns and patio to food growing community space. We have continued to enjoy support from GPC’s administrators and staff through a decade of co-operation, collaboration, spontaneous conversation and big beautiful flower bouquets.

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VCH operates GPC on this beautiful piece of land, and they kindly agreed to let this project go ahead in 2008. In 2019 we had to move the farm due to the redevelopment of this Pearson-Dogwood site, and VCH supported the farm relocating by again allowing Farmers on 57th to convert lawns into gardens. VCH also funded an improvement to the wheelchair accessibility of the therapeutic gardens in 2019, and a rebuild of the Residents’ gardens in 2021, replacing rotting wood frames with beautiful yellow cedar frames.

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In our first year, the City of Vancouver donated 70 yards of compost for the project (that’s THREE trailer and truck-fulls) and dropped off bark mulch on our doorstep. Since then the City has continued to support us with business planning and infrastructure funds, the land and compost for the Growing Eden gardens in South Vancouver and when we needed to move the farm in 2019. In 2020 the city provided us with an infrastructure grant to improve our weekly pop-up harvest processing centre. We are excited as our City grows its food security through projects such as ours!

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This caring institution supports us in so many ways. They bring friends and family for impromptu site tours, talk about our project on Sunday mornings, work and volunteer in our programs, and support us with donations. Since 2015, the UCV has provided ongoing funding of the Growing Eden project received from Vancouver Foundation’s Robert and Anna Koerner Foundation Community Fund. Thank you! Hear Jen Rashleigh describe on a Sunday morning stories from the Growing Eden program.

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Since the Growing Eden garden moved from the eastern lawns of George Pearson Centre to City owned land adjacent to Bobolink Park in 2015, South Vancouver Family Place have been our partners in facilitating family-oriented garden programming for newcomer families. They provide staff and infrastructural support so the Growing Eden program can continue to thrive and strive, and bring families to the garden each and every year.

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South Vancouver Neighbourhood House gained us access to land for the Growing Eden program, and continue to hold the lease with the City of Vancouver that enables us to continue this program into the indefinite future.

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Since 2011, Master Gardeners have been volunteering with our Garden Club program, coming each week to help residents gardeners with disabilities who need some extra help with planting, harvesting… It is great to have their expertise in the program, and brings so much to the garden and community. In 2021, the Master Gardeners convened an educational series to enhance the learning of our market garden volunteers taking part in our Urban Farming Volunteer Learning Program.

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SPEC has helped us out in a number of ways, including supporting us in cover cropping and regular soil analysis as well as funding a fantastic high tunnel. Since 1969 these folks have been a hub of wisdom and a persistent voice for protection of our environment.

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This organisation is heading up an effort to get more fresh local food into our health care facilities. They have invited us to panel talks, and help spread the word on our programs, and are generally movers and shakers of the most fantastic variety.

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This great organization works to support people with physical disabilities. We are grateful for their early financial support of our Garden Club program in 2010. They are “Committed to closing the gap between people with and without physical disabilities”. We couldn’t agree more. We also strive to be part of a community that is accessible and inclusive for all - where everyone gets spend time among the plants.

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We have been so grateful to receive generous donations of seed since 2019, in support of our Growing Eden, Garden Club, Grow Your Own Food and Urban Farming Volunteer Learning Programs.

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Stantec, through their Stantec in the Community program, helped with the initial build of the Resident’s wheelchair accessible garden beds in 2009, and again in 2019 when we had to move the farm. We are so grateful for their teams coming out to support us when we needed them most, and their ongoing funding for garden supplies, tools and equipment.

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These fine folks have approached us several times and said “As a company, we like to support worthwhile causes and projects each year. Can we send you a donation?” (!!!) Many thanks to them for their sense of leadership and citizenry. These things make our day. Our year. They have funded infrastructure including, in 2021, a new community garden shed and communal tools supporting improved access to community members to the community garden plots.

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ONNI, who purchased 22 of the 25.4 acre Pearson-Dogwood lands from Vancouver Coastal Health in 2015, provided us much needed funds to move the farm to the western lawns of George Pearson Centre in 2019. We are grateful for their support as we navigate the ongoing redevelopment of the Pearson-Dogwood lands.

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These were our seed funders in 2009. It is a wonderful thing when a grant giving foundation believes in your vision & supports it.

United Way generously provided a three year grant to start our Growing Eden project on the grounds of George Pearson Centre in 2011. This was an amazing commitment to boosting food security and community development in South Vancouver. Thank you United Way!

Betty from DIGA contacted us early on to set up a partnership. They gardened in our community gardens, and they hold lectures and workshops on gardening at Pearson for residents and the wider community of people with disabilities.

Part of our project vision is to offer Farmers on 57th as a teaching, learning and research site for issues of urban agriculture and food security. So we were very pleased to have the Agricultural Science 350 class take on our site as a community research project in the spring of 2009. Three teams of undergraduate students looked at two research topics: 1) they researched into how to connect the existing Pearson community kitchen with the new market gardens, and 2) they helped design the upcoming fruit tree orchards.

The community centre is only a few blocks away, and they got right on the bus with our project. Their programming staff advertised and handled registration for our beginner’s gardening course, and they arranged for us to borrow a whack of City wheelbarrows and shovels in our first year of operations…invaluable for our super-sized inaugural work party.

We have nothing but gratitude for these fine people. Kevin Cooper (originally part of the UBC AgSci 350 class) was also President of the AMS Bike Co-op at UBC in 2009, and he arranged all the logistics to make our market produce COMPLETELY PEDAL-POWERED.

Each week through our inaugural 2009 season, Kevin and Martin Gunst picked up our produce from Pearson, and transported them by bicycle & cart to market. Once there, they offered bike-home deliveries for shoppers, and encourage people get out of their cars and onto their bicycles. It’s an amazing service, and they did it all with a smile 🙂

Six elementary school classes gardened three plots and brought their Kid Energy to Pearson in the early days of the project.