by Joanne Klimovich Harrop | Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Grace’s Garden will provide nourishment for the body … and the soul.
Located on land at Carlow University in Oakland, the ground is being tended to grow fruits and vegetables for not only students, faculty and staff, but also anyone else in the community.
The name of the Carlow Community Garden honors the late Jacqueline Fettis, whom everyone called Grace.
“My grandmother was a fantastic influence on my gardening aspirations,” said Isabelle Finnegan, 20, of Bethel Park, a third-year student at Carlow studying health sciences who aspires to be a physician assistant.
“She was an amazing woman. Despite facing many hardships, she always found the time to give back to her community. My grandmother loved to garden and she passed that love down to my mom who passed it down to me,” Finnegan said.
The community garden idea embraces Carlow’s mission, according to Kathy Wilson Humphrey, the university’s president.
“Everyone has gifts and skills, and it is about giving back with a desire to want to help,” Humphrey said. “This garden in many ways epitomizes my hope for them. I say to them all the time, ‘To whom much is given, much is required.’ It is one of my favorite scriptures, and for them to act on it means so much.”
A Sister of Mercy for nearly six decades, Carney, who grew up nearby, said helping others is one of the order’s core values — a vow of service.
Carlow is a private Catholic university. Its heritage extends back to 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, where Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy.
In 1843, seven of her followers traveled to Pittsburgh and established the community here, and 86 years later they responded to the need for Catholic higher education for women by opening Mount Mercy College, now Carlow University. It became co-ed in 2011.
“This area is a food desert, and at times students have to decide whether to pay rent or buy food,” Carney said.
People may say it is just a garden, but it is a lot more, Humphrey said, as the students are going to get much more than the labor they provide.
“This is something that can be fruitful for a long time and it is being embraced by the entire campus,” Humphrey said. “They want to do this,and they are inviting others to join them. They have a dream, and they are executing that dream. This is the ultimate leadership, where you take a vision and you make it appear.”
Another part of the project is designed to utilize the greenhouse on campus so that food can be grown throughout the year. But that will require a minimum of $50,000 to be viable, Humphrey said. The greenhouse needs repairs to its heating, cooling and ventilation system.