2023 Convergence in Charleston
From January 29 - February 1, members of the SWF team visited Charleston, South Carolina for a two day convergence with our Values-Based Partners, The Green Heart Project. The team connected with staff members, educators, students, and community members during a hands-on carpentry workshop, a tour of the city, and listening sessions about the history of Green Heart Project. The trip was an important connection point for both organizations and resonated with both teams. Read more about the “Convergence in Charleston”.
Charleston is a perfect place to visit when it’s below freezing in Chicago! A group of six team members flew to Charleston just before the cold weather rolled in to meet with some of our Values Based Partners at The Green Heart Project (GHP). GHP builds garden-based experiential learning projects and school garden programs to educate students, connect people, and cultivate community through growing, eating, and celebrating food. Jesse Blom, Executive Director of The Green Heart Project, has been connected with SWF since 2010 when he worked with SWF to cultivate partnerships with schools and community groups across Milwaukee and Chicago.
On the first day of the convergence, the SWF team met GHP staff to tour their garden spaces and learn more about the organization, their daily routines, and the ways GHP connects with students and the community. In the afternoon, the SWF team led a carpentry workshop that shared how to build an Interlocking Pony with the Green Heart team. GHP has been introducing more carpentry projects into its practice, and the Interlocking Pony workshop demonstrated how the SWF team integrates carpentry into its education and community programming.
On day two of the convergence, SWF and GHP collaborated to take the Interlocking Pony workshop to the next level, delivering the workshop to a group of high school students from Burke High School. GHP delivers gardening programming regularly with students from this school and was excited to extend the scope of their connection with students to include carpentry basics.
At the end of their “Workcation,” the SWF team visited the beach to reflect on the significance of the convergence and the experience of sharing SWF’s practice with The Green Heart Project. The convergence strengthened the SWF-GHP partnership, and many virtual meetings to continue the connections made have already taken place.
The Sweet Water Foundation team is grateful for the warm welcome and time dedicated by the GHP team and looks forward to welcoming them to The Commonwealth soon!
