• Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Slice, Slice Baby!
  • LGBTQ+ Youth, Seniors, and ‘Drag Race’ Queens Celebrate Chosen Family at Inaugural Intergenerational Thanksgiving Dinner
  • Dispensing Culturally Competent Care: The Center’s Patient-Centric Pharmacy Does Much More Than Fill Prescriptions
  • Get to Know the Center’s New Leadership Team
  • The Center Looks Back on 25 Years of Senior Services
  • Center CEO Joe Hollendoner: “Our Work Is Never Done”
  • Trixie Mattel Inspires LGBTQ+ Youth to Be Their Best Selves at Models of Pride: “You Are All the Main Character”
  • From Poetry to Tap Dance, Seniors Flaunt Their Talents at Fall Showcase 
Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube
LGBT News Now
Learn about career opportunities at the Center
  • Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
LGBT News Now
You are at:Home»Community»Seniors»Community Garden Opens at Triangle Square

Community Garden Opens at Triangle Square

0
By on November 25, 2018 Seniors

By Greg Hernandez

Frank Gulli used to have to travel from his Triangle Square apartment to a community garden in West Hollywood to work out his green thumb.

Now all he has to do is walk to the second floor patio area of Triangle Square, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s affordablehousing complex for LGBT seniors, to get his gardening fix.

The Center’s Young Professional Council and the Young Alumni of USC Lambda recently spent a Saturday putting together 12 portable wooden gardening plots and getting them ready for planting. It’s now it’s up to the residents to maintain the vegetables, herbs, and flowers that are being planted in what is their very own community garden.

“It’s open, It’s nice. It couldn’t be better,” says Gulli.. “The beds themselves are on wheels so this gives us the ability to be able to move from sunshine to shade as needed.”

Resident Edward Stanza already has his own garden on his third floor balcony, but likes the idea of a community garden.

“There’s a lot of green thumbs around here,” Stanza says. “This is wonderful for all of us because it gives us an opportunity to nurture something. You water it, you come out and check on it, and a few months later it rewards you with a tomato or squash.”

Kiera Pollock, the Center’s director of senior services, says the aim of the gardening project is to offer an outdoor activity that can provide a feeling of accomplishment and even reduce depression and anxiety.

“In general, a lot of our seniors have not had the opportunity to grow food,” Pollock says.  “Nutrition is really important so we wanted to give them the opportunity to grow healthy food here as well as give them the opportunity to create a community space for themselves and to build something together, to see things grow from seeds to plants.”

Gulli knows from experience the many benefits of tending a garden.

“Anything to get people outside and into the fresh air and doing something really healthy is always a big plus,” he says. “When I’m in a garden, it’s one of the few places where I can actually still my head and just enjoy a simple thing like butterfly, a bug, a plant, dirt. It’s very important that people have this kind of time to eliminate all the stress that we have to deal with.”

The gardens are for everyone from those who have gardening knowledge to those who have never touched dirt in their lives.

“We are hoping people will mentor each other and create a space together,” Pollock says.

The John N. Calley Foundation, which has funded the Center’s youth gardening program, contributed the approximately $2,000 cost of the gardening beds, soil, and seeds.

“We thought this was a natural extension of youth garden program,” says Shawn Kravich, chair of the YPC executive committee and a member of the Calley Foundation board. “We also really value inter-generational work so to be able to leverage that and create an opportunity for the seniors here at Triangle Square was our pleasure.”

Longtime Triangle Square resident Jimmy Hughes looks on as the young volunteers prepared the gardening plots and smiles.

“This is wonderful,” he says. “It makes everybody feel that somebody’s looking out for them – watching and listening. Putting your hands in earth, making something grow, at our age it’s something.”

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

LGBTQ+ Youth, Seniors, and ‘Drag Race’ Queens Celebrate Chosen Family at Inaugural Intergenerational Thanksgiving Dinner

The Center Looks Back on 25 Years of Senior Services

From Poetry to Tap Dance, Seniors Flaunt Their Talents at Fall Showcase 

Comments are closed.

Upcoming Events

Feb 4
5:00 pm - 10:00 pm

The Future is Black 2023: Renaissance

Feb 9
February 9 - March 4

Cock

Feb 10
February 10 - February 11

The MisMatch Game: Crazy Little Thing Called Love Edition

Mar 16
March 16 - April 16

Menstruation: A Period Piece

Apr 29
April 29 - June 24

A New Brain

View Calendar
About Us

LGBT News Now

LGBT News Now is a publication of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, the Center is the largest LGBT organization in the world, dedicated to building a world where LGBT thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org.

Follow Us on Instagram

lalgbtcenter

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is building a world where LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society.

Los Angeles LGBT Center
Last call for RSVPs: We have just a handful of ope Last call for RSVPs: We have just a handful of open seats left before we officially reach capacity! See the link in bio to register— and we cannot wait to see each of you this Saturday, Feb. 4! The question is now: what will you wear? #BHM #LAFabulous
This is not a drill: There are active legislative This is not a drill: There are active legislative threats against our freedoms going up for vote across the country. We know most of these fights are not happening in California—but that’s precisely why our Center community can be of help. Join the Resistance Squad today by texting ‘RESIST’ to 33339 to help win this fight, and swipe through the slides to understand what’s happening. —>
Did you know that the Center hosts a Senior Prom f Did you know that the Center hosts a Senior Prom for our #LGBTQ+ #elders each year? A few years ago, we were visited by filmmakers who wanted to document the event in all its glory—and now their film is airing tonight on @PBS at 10PM PT. Please tune in to celebrate the amazing work of our Senior Services team and our real heroes, our incredible clients! And stay tuned later this year for more from our next installment of the Prom.
Our community at the Los Angeles LGBT Center exten Our community at the Los Angeles LGBT Center extends our deepest condolences to the loved ones of those we lost in the tragic mass shooting in #MontereyPark, and our well wishes to the survivors who are recovering. We remain committed to our hope for a peaceful and prosperous Los Angeles—without guns and hate.
We’re honored to join the @academymuseum as a Co We’re honored to join the @academymuseum as a Community Partner for the upcoming screening of Pat Rocco's Signs of Queer Life on January 26 at 7:30pm.

The trailblazing LA-based filmmaker and gay rights advocate, #PatRocco, captured seminal moments of LGBTQ history, joy and upsets. Check out a preview of his film #WeWereThere. Use discount code LGBTQ+ to get $2 off tickets to the screening! Link in our bio. 
 
#AcademyMuseum #LGBTQstories
The Center is proud to announce our inaugural thea The Center is proud to announce our inaugural theatre season! This year, we are partnering with local theatre companies to present nearly 100 showings of four remarkable plays to lift the depth and diversity of LGBTQ+ narratives. The line-up includes world premieres, an award-winning comedy, and a radically reimagined musical. Performances begin Feb. 9—Get your tickets now at lalgbtcenter.org/theatre, or at the link in our bio! 🎭 🎟️
SHE DID NOT COME TO PLAY! The one and only @bigfre SHE DID NOT COME TO PLAY! The one and only @bigfreedia, Queen of Bounce, is coming to the Los Angeles LGBT Center for #TheFutureIsBlack — our #BlackHistoryMonth event — and tickets are FREE to the public at the #linkinbio. Hear from Freedia and a dynamic roster of other Black talent, then dance the night away in our Renaissance-themed afterparty. Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 4th and get on that list at the link in bio before it closes.
Today we commemorate one of our nation’s most pr Today we commemorate one of our nation’s most preeminent civil rights leaders— the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.— who left us a transformative legacy rooted in service and community. His noble actions blueprinted monuments of unity across the country, and especially, here at home in Los Angeles. On this #MLKDayofService, we are reminded of our ability to champion equity and justice for all.
 
#DrKing #MLKDay
We at the Los Angeles LGBT Center are deeply distu We at the Los Angeles LGBT Center are deeply disturbed by the videos depicting the tragic deaths of three Angelenos, and join the Mayor in calling for urgent police reform and accountability. Swipe through for our full statement.

#TakarSmith #KeenanAnderson #OscarSanchez
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Stay Connected
Subscribe
Copyright © 2022 Los Angeles LGBT Center
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.