Blink's Garden

I work at a homeless shelter in Winnipeg. We use a story we wrote to get kids in schools thinking about the roots of poverty and a whole host of other social ills - which we think are mostly about disconnection. The story is about two little girls whose garden has been pushed to the edge of their community. In the course of the story, everyone comes to realize that the health of the Blink's rejected garden and the health of the community as a whole are all tied together.

The cool thing about our shelter is that they have the vision to see that solving these big social problems isn't only about fundraising. Sowing the values of inclusion and learning to "connect with people who are not like you" are a big part of changing things in the long term. So, they funded the production of an illustrated CD/book complete with songs that we will use for both fundraising and engagement.

Yet to be added

M.A. Literature B.Ed. History, English, Phys. Ed.

Proceeds raise needed funds for the mission while at the same time giving students a story with a garden metaphor to help them think about and engage in building their own communities. Right now we are working on an elementary-years curriculum to accompany the story. We tour the stage version to fringe festivals in Canada. This July we will be taking it on the road to the Toronto Fringe Festival.