Sign of the times is a weekly photo column focusing on the impact of Michigan’s struggling economy on the Lansing Area.
Chad Badgero is trying to plant more than just a garden in Lansing’s Old Town. He’s hoping to spread a little relief.
Badgero is a community organizer working through Americorps Vista with the Old Town Commercial Association to build a community garden for the residents in Old Town and the surrounding area. Badgero said 50 percent of the community is near the poverty line and a community garden might help residents save some money in the tight economy.
Americorps is a domestic version of the Peace Corps, whose members are employed as organizational members of nonprofits.
In Badgero’s case, starting a garden is just one of the community development projects he’s working on.
He’s enthusiastic about the program and what his work does for the Lansing community.
“We are a small T-section of independent businesses surrounded by a community that 17 percent is on food stamps,” Badgero said.
“The hope is that (the community garden) is something they can use to offset having to go to a local grocery store because they’re growing their own vegetables.”
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