Building Community, One Garden at a Time

Since 2019, Public Program Educator Michelle Vitaglione has been playing a major role in representing the Bartlett in the greater community. A passionate and experienced environmental educator, Michelle oversees the Bartlett’s Grow Mobile programming, a key element of which is establishing vegetable garden programs with community partners, including Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County (CLC), Stamford Public Schools, and Villa Maria.  

Thanks to a generous grant from Pitney Bowes, Michelle’s latest project has put smiles on a lot of faces, including her own. Since February she has been leading children in grades Kindergarten through 12th in planning, planting, and maintaining a new vegetable garden at Inspirica, an organization working to break the cycle of homelessness. “The children who attend the youth center at Inspirica did an amazing job of getting everything started and even made bilingual signs for the various vegetables.” Since school ended and the kids are in camp, Michelle has been working with another long-time Bartlett partner, Abilis, to maintain the garden throughout the summer.  The crops harvested go back to the Inspirica community, with priority going to the families of the children who worked on the project. Come fall, both the Inspirica youth and Abilis volunteers will continue to maintain the garden.

When the Bartlett began constructing the garden in 2021, the goal was to eventually turn the care and maintenance over to the community. According to Michelle, one of the benefits of having the garden along the street is the opportunity for community engagement. ‘It’s been a slow trickle, but interest is growing. People stop by, ask questions, and are so excited when I offer them cuttings of herbs or peppers straight from the plants. Aside from providing access to healthy, organic food and environmental education, the goal is for the community to fully enjoy this resource and understand that this is their garden.”