Since 2002, Rosie Chaffold, an Allendale resident for more than 30 years, has taken care of the "Allendale Garden of Hope and Love" that she started. After seeing that a local Shreveport, Louisiana program called "Community Renewal" had an interest in bringing renewal to this economically depressed neighborhood, Rosie, an avid gardener, decided to see if she could do something to make her neighborhood better. The neighborhood used to be a scary and rundown place to live with rows of shotgun shacks that were built in the 1930s.
Less than a quarter of a block from her home was a vacant lot on a street corner of North Allen and Buena Vista Streets. The last house on the lot had been torn down about nine years earlier. The lot was being used a trash dump for the neighborhood. Also, it was a hangout for drug dealers and users. This lot used to be the most dangerous spot in the neighborhood and also a magnet for other types of crime like prostitution.
After getting permission from the owner of the lot, Rosie started her garden. In her own words, "I wanted to create something beautiful, something that would give people hope. And, little by little, as flowers began to bloom, it made the neighborhood better. People started taking pride in their yard and the neighborhood. When you’re in a garden you feel like you’re next to God, close to the Earth, Its presence inspires me as she inspires me as my friend and a true champion of what is right and good.”
At first, people in the neighborhood thought that Rosie was a bit crazy because she was putting her life into harm's way. There were times during the first year when she would be taking care of her garden in one corner of the lot while the drug dealers would be selling their drugs in another corner of the lot. Most often she would be in the garden at 8 A.M. before the drug dealers started to sell their drugs. The drug dealers tried to stop Rosie by shooting out two of the windows in her house and setting her garage on fire but these things didn't stop Rosie in her path of revitalizing the neighborhood. After a while, the garden expanded to pretty well all of the lot and the drug dealers moved across the street to another empty lot and eventually out of the neighborhood. Soon the drug dealers who were Rosie's enemy became her friends. They would stop by and leave things that they had found like trinkets and lumber and Rosie would incorporate them into the garden. A wooden cross has a prominent spot in the center of the garden and the words "God Loves You" are made out of red plastic drinking glasses pushed through the wire mesh of a fence.
With lots of help from the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and volunteers from outside the neighborhood, Rosie provides plenty of green stuff for neighbors to eat, free of charge, plus well-kept flower beds of roses and other flowers. In the garden, there are broccoli, carrots, collard greens, green beans, kale, lettuce, onions, peppers, turnips, and yellow squash along with other vegetables. Interspersed among the well-kept flower and produce beds, are park benches where the local residents could have a beautiful place to sit and talk. Rosie supports other community gardens around the Shreveport area and hosts educational programs and events at the garden.
Rosie explains that neighbors who used to ask her why she tried to make a difference occasionally stop by to help her with gardening. Now she feels gratified but hopes more nearby residents will join her. The work and the food, she said, are the bounty. Along with the "Garden of Hope and Love" sign is another sign that says "We Care", which is the slogan of Community Renewal. Rosie is an upstanding member of this organization. Community Renewal awarded Rosie by naming her as "The Community Gem of June, 2010". In 2009, Rosie was given the title of "Honorary Master Gardener" by the Northwest Louisiana Master Gardeners.
The garden is part of the Red River Coalition of Community Gardeners. Since it's conception, the garden has gotten a lot of press coverage and visits from tour groups. In 2007, the non-profit group "Allendale Care Team Partnership" was founded. It's goal is to provide a starting point for future beautification of the neighborhood along with providing some financial support for the garden. If you would like to donate, you can send correspondence to Mrs. Rosie Chaffold at P.O. Box 1183, Shreveport, Louisiana 71163.
Rosie explains that neighbors who used to ask her why she tried to make a difference occasionally stop by to help her with gardening. Now she feels gratified but hopes more nearby residents will join her. The work and the food, she said, are the bounty. Along with the "Garden of Hope and Love" sign is another sign that says "We Care", which is the slogan of Community Renewal. Rosie is an upstanding member of this organization. Community Renewal awarded Rosie by naming her as "The Community Gem of June, 2010". In 2009, Rosie was given the title of "Honorary Master Gardener" by the Northwest Louisiana Master Gardeners.
The garden is part of the Red River Coalition of Community Gardeners. Since it's conception, the garden has gotten a lot of press coverage and visits from tour groups. In 2007, the non-profit group "Allendale Care Team Partnership" was founded. It's goal is to provide a starting point for future beautification of the neighborhood along with providing some financial support for the garden. If you would like to donate, you can send correspondence to Mrs. Rosie Chaffold at P.O. Box 1183, Shreveport, Louisiana 71163.