Sep 2nd, 2022

Community Capital Fund: West Ottawa Community Program Blossoms at 395 Somerset

A great new community program took root at 395 Somerset over the summer.

Thanks to a collaboration between OCH, Ottawa West Community Support (OWCS) and Root in Nature, seniors are using the produce from garden planters in one community and offering them to a pantry in another OCH community.

A successful Community Capital Fund application provided the money needed to pay for raised garden planters and soil. The group of engaged senior volunteers took a fun and interactive Root in Nature workshop funded by OWCS to learn all they needed to know to care for the seedlings they received and transplant them into pots placed on their balconies.

This group of seniors has paired up and adopted the planters and pots and has been caring for them throughout the garden season. There have been so many successful seedlings that there were enough to not only fill the planters but also to share with other residents in the community.

Community coming together  

Volunteers harvested produce from the community’s raised planters and will donate the food to Public Foods. The outdoor community fridge and pantry is located at 415 Maclaren St and will open on Sept. 14.

The public outdoor pantry is a four-by-12-foot structure outside the MacLaren Street building. Architecture students from Carleton University designed it. The idea came from the St. James United Church – volunteers from the church will maintain the space, and OCH will provide electricity at no cost.