Unity Orchard 2021-2022

The Unity Orchard is a community park created from an empty lot in the Sherman Park neighborhood. It was started in 2015 by HOME GR/OWN, an organization that focuses on placemaking as a way to increase access to greenspace and healthy food to low income neighborhoods.

Mission Statement: Create a sense of community in a dangerous area through placemaking: adding functional pieces, fun activities, and gaining visitors.

The main goal of the Unity Orchard is to create a safe greenspace for the community to come together in a dangerous area. We want to get the neighborhood engaged in creating this space, so they can take ownership in the park and create the desire to protect it, leading to an overall safer park. Hopefully, by creating this connection and adding pieces to the park, we can bring the community together and make the whole area a safer place for everyone.

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Goals

Talk to community members to find out what they want
- asking kids to design what they want in a playground
- having children from a youth group paint the trash cans.
Raise money for more features to the park
- Lights
- Seating
- Swingset
Continue to implement the stage

Accomplishments

Surveyed kids on what they wanted to see in the park
- Kids drew what they wanted in an ideal park or what they wanted to add to the space that existed
- kids painted trashcans during this time
Ran small fundraiser for park features
- Plan to give money towards funding for stage, benches, or community board
Gave feedback for the stage drafts

Trash Cans

We found the barrels for free at a local car wash and cleaned, sanded, and primed them. We also made lids so rain or snow would not get into the trash cans. The goal was to get the children of the community involved in the park by letting them decorate the barrels, as well as decorating the park. We partnered with Peak Initiative and painted the barrels together. We also invited the youth to draw what they wanted to see in the park to get their perspective. When the weather got warmer, we were able to secure the barrels into the ground, with the help of Miss Cheri, as well as meet some members of the community.

Stage

When we first joined this project in the fall of 2021, the main goal was to build a stage for the community. The stage was meant to be a place for gathering and putting on different events to bring the community together in a safe space. We met with Miss Cheri and UWM professor Dr. Sen through zoom and discussed plans for the stage. We were shown renderings of different ideas on where the stage was and what it could look like. In the end, we decided this was a long-term goal and the stage took a backseat to our other short-term goals. Journey House Design & Construction Academy created some designs for the stage as well.

Fundraiser

We worked with Noodles and Company to start a fundraiser for the Unity Orchard. The goal of this fundraiser was to raise money to provide seating and flora for the orchard. The event lasted from 4:00 to 8:00 on April 27, 2022 with 25% of proceeds going to the orchard.

The biggest obstacle we ran into was communication with Noodles and Company. We weren’t sure the fundraiser was happening until late. It was difficult to promote as we only had a short time-frame to advertise before the event.

About the Students Behind the Project

Martina is a Computer Science student. She is a member of Circle K, Student Union Board, and Society of Software Engineers. Martina joined this project because she wished to contribute to an ongoing effort to build a safe place within a neighborhood. She functioned as the group's liaison.

AJ is a Computer Science major. He is a part of the MSOE rowing team. AJ chose this project because he understands the importance of community in any neighborhood.

Grace is an Actuarial Science major. She is a part of the MSOE women’s basketball team, lifting club, and Math And Actuarial Science Club. Grace chose this project because she wanted to be involved in the Milwaukee community.

Sofia is a Computer Science major. She is a member of Circle K, Student Union Board, and Society of Software Engineers. She chose this project because she saw it as an opportunity to experience another side of Milwaukee and counteract the disparity that she learned about in her Honors Seminar Class. She functioned as the groups organizer and note taker.

Special Thanks to:

Camielle Mays
Cheri Fuqua
PEAK Initiative
- Especially to our contacts in PEAK, Lila Weatherall & Cecilia Gencuski
Dr. Arijit Sen - Professor of Architecture at UWM
Dr. Helen Bullard - MIAD Faculty Member
Gerri Solomon - MIAD Student
Journey House Design & Construction Academy