Alexandre-Aimée Baker
Special to the Tribune
There is a distinct kind of warmth that fills a room when a community gathers around food, art, and a shared vision for the future. Last month, that warmth was palpable inside the West Nipissing Community Health Centre (WNCHC) as local residents, Mayor Kathleen Thorne Rochon, and participants of the OASIS Seniors Day Program came together to celebrate the official name and vibrant new artwork of their flourishing green space: Notre Jardin, Nos Racines / Planting Roots Community Garden.
Gathered around harvest-style tables decorated with autumnal details, attendees were presented with traditional Indigenous teachings, a name reveal, and exciting news about the garden’s future before sitting down to share a community meal cooked with ingredients grown directly in the garden beds.
The celebration marked the culmination of a season-long collaborative effort that transformed the health centre’s grounds into an educational and nutritional hub with multi-generational participation. Throughout the spring and summer, the space was built and nurtured by a wide network of hands: teens from the Lighthouse safe space built and planted garden boxes, the Alzheimer’s support group crafted a scarecrow to watch over the greens, and local youth in summer camps worked with artist Jessica Somers to add colour and meaning to the site.
