This past semester, Green Bridge Growers had the great opportunity to serve as a placement for Erica Mitchell, a senior Psychology major at the University of Notre Dame. Erica came to us from the Autism Psychology course co-taught by Dr. Joshua Diehl of Notre Dame and Kristin Weir, Clinical Director of the Ansari Center for Autism Services at Logan Center. Although this course traditionally places its practicum students with the families of young students with autism, we were delighted to serve as the first placement for this course involving adults with autism. And Erica was a perfect match for us! Over the fall semester, Erica served more than 40 hours with us, and was very involved in working with our trainees Matt, Tim, and Chris in all aspects of managing the workflow for our aquaponic greenhouse.

In addition to being a big fan of the Notre Dame football team, Erica hails from Denver and is a huge fan of the Denver Broncos. Many afternoons you could hear her and the guys talking football or comparing notes after the weekend games, always with a lot of friendly rivalry.

Matt, Tim, and Chris took time out recently to do a little interview with Erica to highlight her time with us and to share her great passion to work in the future with people with disabilities. Here’s the flow of their conversation:

Matt: How do you know about Green Bridge Growers?

Erica: I know about Green Bridge Growers from the class that I’m taking at Notre Dame called Autism, and as a part of my class, I’m working here with you guys.

Matt: How did you get interested in autism awareness?

Erica: I became interested in autism when I worked at Camp Christopher outside of Cleveland a few summers ago.  During that summer, I got to work with kids and adults with autism and other intellectual disabilities, and I really loved the chance to work with those individuals.

Tim: What are your hobbies and interests?

Erica: Some of my hobbies include really doing anything outside.  I love skiing and biking and hiking, a lot of the things I get to do when I’m home in Colorado.

Matt: How does it feel to live at different altitudes from South Bend to Denver?

Erica: Well, South Bend is obviously a lot closer to sea level, versus Denver, which is a mile above sea level, so when I’m home I notice that if I’ve been here in South Bend for a while and I go home and try to go for a run or do exercise, it’s a lot harder there than it is here.

Chris: What is it about autism that particularly interests you?

Erica: I am interested in general in working with individuals with multiple developmental disabilities, but one thing that’s particularly interesting about working with individuals with autism is that it is such a wide spectrum, so you really can’t make assumptions about anyone with this diagnosis; you never know what their different challenges and strengths will be, and every individual and every interaction is unique.

Thanks to Matt, Tim, and Chris for the great interview questions! It was tremendous having you with us this semester, Erica! We all did a lot of learning together and we are very grateful to you for the creativity and energy you brought to Green Bridge Growers!

This semester, Green Bridge Growers had the opportunity to collaborate with students and faculty from a variety of the colleges and universities in our area.  We think the energy, talent, and commitment offered by these partnerships is tremendous. We’ll be sharing more about these collaborations in order to recognize the learning and practical knowledge contributed by these students. Today we highlight the voices of two of these students, Emma and Keeley, who joined our venture this fall through a collaboration with Professor Sonalini Sapra of Saint Mary’s College. Their reflections really highlight the value of learning that engages with the community!

Emma: Connecting to the Community

I’m from Granger, Indiana, and am a sophomore at Saint Mary's College, where I’m studying chemistry with the goal of attending medical school. I began volunteering at Green Bridge Growers through a project in my class Gender and Environmental Justice, taught by Professor Sonalini Sapra. I chose to incorporate experiential learning as part of the final project  to interact with the community as well as to see some of the initiatives that had been discussed in class put into action.

During my time working with Green Bridge Growers I was able to experience many different aspects of their work. On my first visit, after touring the Hannah and Friends barn,  I began working in the greenhouse. I learned how the aquaponics system works to enable the growth of plants without the use of soil and how fish provide the nitrogen needed for plant growth. It was interesting to see how the aquaponic system worked and to see the techniques used within the greenhouse. I had never seen anything like that before! I also enjoyed seeing Hannah and Friends for the first time.  Although I am from this area, I had never visited the agency. With this opportunity,  I enjoyed going there to learn more about their work. 

My second trip volunteering I worked with residents at Hannah and Friends to process their pumpkins, which they had grown during the past year. We worked to save some of the seeds to plant next spring and will use others to roast to use as snacks throughout the fall. I enjoyed the chance to work with some of the residents at Hannah and Friends, getting to know them and assisting them with this project. Another time  we planted swiss chard in the aquaponics bed. These plants had started out in peat pots, requiring us to rinse the roots off to remove the soil before placing in the aquaponics bed. After all of the chard had been transplanted, we went inside to make sage pesto, as there had been an abundance of sage in one of the gardens. I enjoyed seeing how crops that seemed overabundant could be used creatively to prepare healthy, fresh meals.

To see all aspects of what Green Bridge growers does, we spent our final session working at their location in the skybridge that connects the Century Center to the Doubletree Hotel in the heart of downtown South Bend. This site makes use of greenhouse-like conditions to grow year-round right in the heart of downtown.  Existing growbeds had been repurposed to plant food rather than the decorative plants that were grown previously.  That day, we applied vermicompost fertilizer - a type of highly effective fertilizer created by worms – to the base of the plants.  This allowed me to see the other side of Green Bridge Growers where  available space within the city is being utilized in order to grow more fresh, local produce. I enjoyed getting to see a different, more public side of the organization, as well as getting to learn about a different type of gardening and raising food.

Working with Green Bridge Growers was a unique experience. It taught me that there are multiple ways of growing food. It also showed me that everyone has even a partial green-thumb. Working here showed me that it is possible to reduce my carbon footprint, if I only put in the effort to grow at least some of my produce. Growing your own food is one of the best ways to explore the different varieties of vegetables that exist, rather than what is simply on the grocery store shelf….if you only have the patience to wait for it to grow!

- Emma Vreeke
Saint Mary’s College

I can take a lot from this experience. It was a great way to see different types of sustainability efforts and how successful it can be. Taking Gender and Environmental Justice has opened my eyes to the different opportunities that I can contribute to. It has been beneficial to be educated about the environment and Green Bridge Growers has showed me ways to sustainably grow plants and vegetables and how to translate that into the kitchen.  Sustainability is an innovative topic and many companies focus highly on ways to develop this. As I go through school and life later down the road I will take what I’ve learned from class and this volunteer experience. I can now say I know how to grow vegetables sustainably and also know the importance of recycling. Thank you for the opportunity.

-Keeley Frost
Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN