Buddha & Ganesh
Funded by TD Bank’s “Green Streets” program and promoted by the Worcester Tree Initiative (WTI) and the Regional Environmental Council (REC), the Bioshelter Community Garden brings people together and instills a sense of community in the area. The garden contains fruit trees and raised beds and is mostly maintained by Buddha and Ganesh S., brothers and Bhutanese refugees who were given this plot of land by Worcester Common Ground, a non-profit aimed at creating sustainable improvements in Central Worcester. The two brothers cultivate year-round and grow different types of Asian vegetables, such as mustard greens, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatoes.
In June 2014, TD Bank awarded WTI a grant to purchase and plant 20 fruit trees in the Garden. Buddha and Ganesh have been splitting the work ever since, maintaining 10 trees each since the day they were planted. The fruit trees consist of plums, peaches, apples, pears, and cherries. These fruits not only represent a source of food for the refugees and their families, but are also sold within the neighboring community through occasional farmers’ markets.
More recently in 2018, Worcester Common Ground worked with students from WPI and YouthBuild Worcester to construct a Bio-Shelter and a dozen lifted beds in the garden. This specialized greenhouse serves as an indoor ecosystem, allowing the new gardeners (as well as Buddha and Ganesh who use some of the beds) to plant all year round and store seedlings for planting in the Spring.
CRRA is a refugee resettlement agency based Charlotte, NC. Their main objective is to help newly-arrived refugees begin their lives in the United States. Currently the majority of the refugees assisted by CRRA originate from Eritrea, Bhutan, Burma, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. CRRA assists them with finding low cost housing, enrolling in public schools, attending medical appointments, and finding employment.