A Recipe for Love All Year Round 🍲

February 2023

A Recipe For Love All Year Round

“To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients - care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication.”

― bell hooks

Love is powerful in all its forms–romantic, familial, and self-love. Like prominent black feminist and theorist bell hooks notes above, love requires not only care, and affection, but also trust and communication. It is with these ingredients that Groundwork Lawrence creates powerful, loving, and trusting relationships with our residents, supporters, colleagues, partners, and ourselves! Hanging largely and proudly in our office is an assortment of reasons and ideas why people love Lawrence.

What do you love about Lawrence? Share it with us on Instagram #lovelawrence for a shout out!

7 ½ Square Miles of Opportunity:

Lots of Love in Lawrence

GWL's love of Lawrence began in 1999 and has taken shape in the form of more than 25 parks, community gardens, a thriving farmers market, an urban farm, greenways, fun community days, cooking classes, impactful youth programs, and so much more!

From the Duck Bridge to the Spicket River Greenway to our diverse restaurants and people, there is a lot to love about Lawrence. Our Green Team members shared a touching poem on their love of Lawrence at last year’s Glow Gala. Thank you to our Green Team youth for such powerful poem!

A Letter to My Home

Dear Lawrence,

This is from your local high schooler.

This is someone that knows you

Someone that sees you

Someone that wants to shine a light on you.

I want to say thank you

When I close my eyes, I can still smell

the Cubanos from La Rubia

the pastelitos from Miguelina’s

the burritos from Passion Steak Tacos

and the fried chicken from Jaqueline’s

Lawrence, you also gave me …

The bachata that I only knew 5 words to

The merengue I learn how to dance to

The salsa my mom would cry to

I can’t help but say thank you

The Duck Bridge connecting our community into one

All traveling between north and south

Around the height of the clock tower

I still see the flashing colors of your personal watch

Reminding us of the generations before us

And every year,

We feel your warmth

The heat trapped on your pavements

The salted streets of our anticipated winters

And the people I feel forever connected to

Thank you for your

7 ½ Miles of

Opportunity

History

Artistry

Community

And Love

Five Weeks of FREE Cooking Classes

Have you ever wanted to prepare a healthy, low cost meal but didn’t know where to start? Wanted to prepare your favorite meal, but use healthier ingredients? Yes? Then check out our free cooking classes with Healthy Living Programs Manager, Maria Natera!

Here you’ll learn how to prep and cook fresh ingredients while learning budgeting and portioning. Participants will also walk away with farmers market coupons, a tote bag, and starting ingredients to make the recipes they've just learned.

Past cooking class participants have loved learning new ways to add fresh veggies and healthier takes on their favorite traditional cultural dishes.

Classes are open to Lawrence residents, and run once a week. There are only 15 spots available for the classes beginning on March 28th; click this link to sign up today!

🌶️ Recipe Alert: Fresh Veggie Salsa

This yummy and fresh veggie salsa was one of the recipes featured in our last cooking class. It only takes a few minutes to put together, and can be a great side dish or snack! Learn this, and so many other flavorful recipes in our upcoming cooking classes!

💡 Fun Fact: most ingredients for this salsa can be found at our Farmer's Market!

Black History Month:

A Glance Into Green Space (In)Justice

With Black History Month ending today, Groundwork Lawrence wanted to look closer into an issue we hold near and dear in our hearts and mission: green space access. Parks, community gardens, nature preserves, and even cemeteries are all considered green spaces; but though these lands are considered public, they were not always accessible to low-income individuals and communities of color. According to Chicago Policy Review, “Several analyses find that urban green spaces are larger and more accessible in wealthier and predominantly white neighborhoods […] the average park size is 6.4 acres in poor neighborhoods compared to 14 acres in wealthy neighborhoods”(https://chicagopolicyreview.org/2020/09/23/racial-disparity-in-access-to-public-green-space/). Systemic barriers like lack of transportation and scarce land availability can disproportionately impact black and brown residents seeking a green refuge.

Green spaces are necessary in larger urban communities because they help mitigate the effects of climate change, as Chicago Policy Review continues,

“Urban tree cover and vegetation provide crucial environmental benefits such as decreasing air pollution and maintaining urban micro-ecosystems. Of special note is their role in mitigating the urban heat island effect” Green spaces offer many benefits - they decrease air pollution and provide respite to residents on hot summer days lessening the urban heat island effect. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed another need for green space as one of the few places to socialize with loved ones and friends safely. Green spaces should be, need to be, a resource accessible to all

At the core of GWL's work is our commitment to the Lawrence Greenway Framework and the activation of open space. From Scarito Park to the Spicket River Greenway to Den Rock Park to the Merrimack River Trail to Bennington Triangle to more than 25 parks and 3.5 miles of trails, GWL, working with the City of Lawrence and committed partners, is energizing green space. Green space in the heart of our community. Green space for all.

Ferrous Park: an Urban Wild

and a Life Changing Investment

In 2016, shovels hit the ground on Lawrence’s new park and green space, the urban wild at the Ferrous Park on Island Street. Fifteen years in the making, this Park is just one of many examples where residents, the City of Lawrence, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and supporters came together to champion for green space in Lawrence. Ferrous Park means a lot of things to different people, but the resounding commonality is that people find peace at Ferrous. When the bustle of the city becomes too much, Ferrous provides a safe way to engage in nature; Groundwork Lawrence encourages you to head out to Ferrous Park for some time away from the traffic, and deadlines, and take a breath of green air, and watch the lights twinkle off of the Merrimack River.

Ferrous Park before and after its revitalization.

Changing Systems:

Resources on Environmental Justice

In January’s newsletter we featured resources for racial justice in honor of MLK Day. What was your favorite read last month? This month you can check out The Intersectional Environmentalist recommended by Lawrencian, El Taller Book Board representative, and former Green Team leader, Julie Todd.

Julie says, "Did you know that the environmental movement in the U.S. was started by people of color? [...] This book documents the recent era of environmental liberation, demanding that the histories, organizations, actions & voices of Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders be centered. Full of necessary resources for action and reflection, this book is both a study guide and toolkit for the interconnected work of racial and environmental justice."

Check out this book and more at your local public library, purchase them from your favorite bookstore, or from our community partner and local Lawrence bookstore, El Taller Cafe & Bookstore.

If you would like more resources on racial justice, please reach out to Dariana for more information!

DONATE