mindful living 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It began in early 2009, when Elizabeth Leipold and Paige Tantillo teamed up to tackle a problem they were noticing in their respective Chicago neighborhoods: empty city lots lying wasted, unused, and ugly. Families lived and played around them, young adults walked past them on their morning commutes, but these abandoned spaces were largely ignored. An informational visit with Chicago Alderman Rey Colon yielded surprising results: permission to transform one of the empty lots in Chicago's 35th Ward into a community garden.

 

On a thriving residential street and across from a Chicago city park, 3323 North Drake Avenue was an ideal location to connect with neighborhood children and active families. Its previous structure had long ago been demolished, its cement foundation broken into chunks and covered with thin soil. Due to its lack of a fence, it was primarily used as a parking lot. Children darted through its mud and weeds as a shortcut from Drake Avenue to the basketball courts and swimming pool directly behind it. Mindful Living saw opportunity in its location, and hope in its many active and friendly neighbors. This spot had great potential to not only become a new source of healthy food, but also an educational center, a community meeting place, and a big step towards beautifying the neighborhood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The success seen on Drake in just a few short years has been extremely energizing, and affirms that this story can be repeated around the city in years to come. In fact, Mindful Living's expansion has already begun, in the early fall of 2014, with permission to use a double lot at 2816 North Milwaukee, just blocks from its flagship location.

 

The newest Mindful Living location is privately owned and will therefore be a temporary garden site, but its high visibility on a commercial block holds great potential to connect with the community. The property owner has given free reign to Mindful Living for the few years until the lot's eventual sale, which gives this site a whole new set of challenges. Straw bale gardening and other sustainable, low-impact growing practices are the focus for its first growing season in 2015, as well as a possible community market. Before the winter of 2014, volunteers have resurfaced the lot with natural mulch, and a vibrant mural by local artist Tony Sparrow was installed. Please see our write-ups in  DNAinfo Chicago and The Times for details on this new site, as well as our involvement in A Day in Avondale.

 

 

Stay tuned to see what we grow next! 

 

 

 

 

With a very ambitious goal of a fall harvest, Mindful Living wasted no time. In March 2009, Elizabeth and Paige held Mindful Living's first annual fundraiser, raising enough money for the lumber for four raised beds, compost, and mulch. The use of a small bulldozer was even donated, and marked the first groundbreaking as the lot was leveled and the largest of the concrete foundation blocks were removed from the ground.

 

Following that, a successful workday in May utilized volunteer labor from the neighborhood and beyond to construct the beds, spread mulch and compost, and plant the first seeds. Contacts throughout the neighborhood were established, and neighbors chipped in generously to help with labor and donations. These same volunteers continue to meet weekly with Mindful Living members throughout the summer: planting, watering, pulling weeds, harvesting produce and distributing the fruits of their labor to other members of the community.

 

Mindful Living's educational classes and workshops began that same year, offering art projects, yoga classes, recycling workshops, and language lessons, all free of charge. These classes continue to attract attendees from Avondale, as well as neighboring communities. Local chefs, artists, and gardening experts continue to volunteer their time and knowledge to build a strong educational program that is integral to the Mindful Living mission.