As Dave Harvey retires from his co-leadership position at Park People, he reflects on the incredible journey since founding the organization in 2011.
Park People’s Executive Director, Erika Nikolai, has been honoured with the Distinguished Individual Award from World Urban Parks—an international recognition that celebrates her leadership and the growing national movement Park People has helped build here in Canada.
In East Vancouver’s Champlain Heights, we sat down with two organizations leading a grassroots effort to restore native forests and build community.
Meet the Ontario Community Changemakers and learn more about their inspiring initiatives transforming parks across the province.
A guidance and resources to measure the impact of your park work on community health and wellbeing, integrating a social equity lens.
Shakeera Solomon from the Vision of Hope Resource Centre in Brampton, a recipient of a TD Park People Grant, shares valuable tips on transitioning indoor programs to the outdoors.
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Organic Farmer, Herbalist, and Director, Apothecary’s Garden and Teaching Gardens at Churchill Park
Julia Hitchcock’s ancestors are from Latvia and England and she was born in Hamilton. Julia has been an organic vegetable farmer since 2001 – beginning at Plan B organic farm and, since 2012, urban farming with Backyard Harvest. Early on a curiosity about the field weeds led to the study of herbalism.
In 2015 herbalist Dan Riegler passed leadership of the Apothecary’s Garden to Julia. Located at the edge of forest, over the hill from the marshy tip of Lake Ontario, participants learn about medicinal plants, gather seeds, share herbal medicine recipes, enjoy wild foods and more. Julia is a mother of two teenagers and helps run a nature connection program at Planting Seeds of Hope, a Children’s Lands project close to Six Nations.