It all began of one hope...

The creation of the Street Synergy Community Garden at the corner of Dartmouth and Bailey Avenues in Buffalo represents a creative and well-managed collaborative effort among Street Synergy members and volunteers, Americorp Vista, the University at Buffalo and the City of Buffalo. Formerly the site of a building destroyed in a fire in 1998, it became a vacant lot filled with debris, abandoned cars and discarded refrigerators. In 1999 the Mayor’s Impact Team cleared it, and this sign of hope encouraged Dartmouth Avenue resident and Street Synergy founding member, Patricia Jeffery, (an English gardener) to envision a garden at the site. Street Synergy President Kate Sullivan worked with Ms. Bruna Michaux at the City of Buffalo’s tax office to have the lot removed from the foreclosure sale, and the City of Buffalo took ownership of the lot. In 2001 Darryl Jones of Wendel Duchscherer Professional Design Services presented a plan for the Street Synergy Community Garden to a general meeting of Street Synergy members. The total project was set to take place in stages as funding was secured. Sandy Jones, Street Synergy Board member, was able to get the cost of plans donated to our organization.

It wasn’t until May 2005 that the critical mass needed to pursue the project became available. Americorp Vista volunteer, Mark Bostaph, joined the Street Synergy staff. Mark began to assemble the collaboration that has since begun the execution and development of a combination of the original design and additional design elements produced by SUNY Buffalo, Department of Architecture, School of Architecture and Planning, (Natural Building Systems: a design/build studio taught by Kevin Connors, Ph.D.) On Earth Day, April 22, 2006, the garden took shape. A plaque was presented by Councilmember Bonnie E. Russell to the family of Shaquanna Jackson, who died in the fire of the original building in 1998. The Street Synergy Community Garden project at the corner of Dartmouth and Bailey Avenues in Buffalo owes its success to people like Jim Pavel of Keep WNY Beautiful, Coco Wozniak of Grass Roots Gardens, Henry Jackson with the City’s Dept. of Engineering, Council Member Bonnie E.Russell, Patricia M. Leonard, Hewitt Harmony Block Club, UB’s Jeff Kujawa, and Kevin Connors, Tom Smith, Quality of Life Program Manager, Kevin Tate, City of Buffalo Clean and Seal Team, Liz Somerville of the UB Mortar Board Honor Society, Americorp* Vista, the members and the Board of Directors of Street Synergy Community Association, Inc. and a large volunteer contingent of area residents and community members.

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