Just to clear up any misconception that Ray Rorke's post may have given, the Spruce Hill Garden Club (now renamed the University City Garden Club) is not (and never was) funded or associated in any way with Uof P or any other organization -- not even Spruce Hill Community Association. It is a completely self-contained self-funded non-profit organization that relies on members and membership dues and plant sales -- and probably would love to have some other funding source!
here is what the website says:
http://web.mit.edu/wplp/plan/spruce.htm
The Spruce Hill Garden Club was formed as a committee of the Spruce Hill Community Association in 1958 to promote beautification in the neighborhood. The committee soon became an independent club and took on several projects, including the Spruce Hill Garden. The Club's overall goal is, in the words of Joe Moloznik, charter member and former president, to "band together to improve the quality of life in this area."
A reference to a website was given (in the post) that appears to be an old abandoned project for UC greening (West Philadelphia Landscape Project)-- possibly a student project? (I think "Project" is intended to be taken in the most literal sense here.) The site was last updated in 1997. So, by no means was this garden or its organization ever "absorbed by funded Penn organizations", as Ray stated in his post. But, if Penn is interested, I'm sure the Garden Club could find a way to use its funds.
the garden was absorbed into the curriculum of the west philadelphia landscape project. here is what the website says:
http://web.mit.edu/wplp/overview.htm
About WPLP
The West Philadelphia Landscape Project is an action research program integrating research, teaching, and community service. Faculty and students in Penn's Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning work with community organizations, neighborhood groups, teachers and students in public schools on a wide range of activities. Design and construction of community landscape projects, maintenance of a digital database, devising stormwater management strategies, and curriculum enrichment for an inner-city junior high school are examples of recent projects.
The WPLP has been featured in newspaper articles, national public radio programs, national and international conferences, and professional journals. The goals of the project include development of strategic landscape plans to enhance environmental quality, implementation of landscape improvements to stimulate community development, and mutual strengthening of secondary public school curriculum and undergraduate and professional education at Penn.
http://web.mit.edu/wplp/plan/planhome.htm
West Philadelphia Landscape Plan The West Philadelphia Landscape Plan was part of a four-year community development and research project (1987-1991) conducted by Penn's Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, Philadelphia Green, the Organization and Management Group, and the West Philadelphia Partnership, and funded by the J. N. Pew Charitable Trust.
Dozens of built projects, five reports, and a digital database were all produced as part of this project. Work on the digital database has continued since 1991, with support from Penn's Center for Community Partnerships and the Graduate School of Fine Arts Computing Center.
Poverty, unemployment, and the physical deterioration of housing and public infrastructure are pressing issues in some West Philadelphia neighborhoods. Landscape development alone cannot solve these problems, but even small, incremental improvements to the urban landscape significantly improve how neighborhoods look and function and the quality of urban life. Successful landscape projects serve as catalysts for other community development projects and as important adjuncts to social programs such as education, job training, and employment.
http://web.mit.edu/wplp/plan/garden.htm
"This Garden is a Town..." Shaping the Community Garden
"This garden is a town, we have everything but a penal colony," said Hayward Ford, President of Aspen Farm Community Garden. Ford's statement reflects a basic idea which guided our work: community gardens are a model for neighborhood-based planning. They are microcosms of community that contain many lessons for designing neighborhoods and cities A community garden is often a first step in community development and an important training ground for future leaders.
Dozens of community gardens were designed and built between 1987- 1991 as part of the West Philadelphia Landscape Plan and Greening Project, including three of those described here.
Eight community gardens, selected for their diversity in terms of how they were formed, how they operate, and how they look, provide a glimpse of what different places such gardens can be. The gardens range from a tiny, intricate garden to a huge, amorphous one, from ones tended by one or two individuals to others where over fifty people garden. Community gardens embody the values of those who plant and end them, thereby creating a variety of physical forms and organizational structures; yet certain elements and motivations are common to all.
Aspen Farm Schuylkill Park Powelton/Summer-Winter Garden Gethsemane Spruce Hill Westminster Pennsgrove Hope Street
http://web.mit.edu/wplp/wpdd/spons.htm
Sponsors
Computer Graphics Laboratory, Graduate School of Fine Arts
Center for Community Partnerships, University of Pennsylvania (support for work-study research assistants)
Intergraph Corporation - Hardware and software provided through Intergraph's University Partnership Program in the Utilities and Mapping Sciences Division
J. N. Pew Charitable Trust (West Philadelphia Landscape Plan and Greening Project grant 1987-1991)
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developement
Philadelphia Urban Resources Partnership
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