Parks and Wrecks
Sometimes these days my life feels like an episode of Parks and Rec.
I had a little teleconference this morning with an area group that provides, among other things, some services for the special needs community. We'd set up a teleconference about my community garden's newly renovated Special Needs Garden, a huge ADA-compliant plot with enough wheelchair accessible raised beds for eight gardeners, and two more almost endless waist-high raised beds for folks with other mobility issues.
My Inner Leslie Knope is bustin' out.
So I was excited to be talking to someone in that community from an organization that does a lot of good in Boston.
Well, right out of the gate it started to get bumpy. I mean, we were both impeccably civilized, but the first thing she said was, “it’s so 1980 to call it a 'Special Needs Garden'.” I think she actually said “'Special Needs' isn’t as PC as it was twenty years ago.”
I didn't want to get stuck on that. I'm definitely open to calling it something else, if that something else is more appropriate, or speaks to the community. So I asked her, very earnestly, what she might suggest.
"Why, you could have a contest!" she said.
A contest to name the plot. I'm sure that would be a huge success. I can just imagine cluelessly sifting through a pile of once-PC terms now long past their expiration date and ending up with the most currently offensive one.
Fun, fun!
She wouldn't let it go, though, and as she banged on (“Eeww! Is it on your promotional material and everything?”) I got the bright idea of checking out her organization's website (that's one advantage of teleconferencing, another being that even in nothing but your Prince Albert and tattoos you can still use your Brooks Brothers voice and no one's the wiser).
Anyway, to make a long, hypocritical story short, when I pulled up their webpage, what popped out at me at the very top and all throughout but "SPECIAL NEEDS".
True story.
When I politely asked her about this, she stammered, "well you don't call someone 'special needs', you call them 'a person with special needs.'"
Mmm. OK. Got it. So, how about "The People With Special Needs Garden"? Doesn't really have that ring to it, does it?
I asked her what she thought of maybe something like "The Ima Wheeler Memorial Garden" — something sort of subliminal.
She didn't really care for that either.
"Poppa Willy's Wonder Garden? Get it? Pop a wheelie?"
I got nothin'.
I gathered some suggestions later from friends and coworkers: "The Awesome Garden!" was probably my favorite for it's unrelenting awesomeness. I thought "The Challenge Garden" was noble, er, ish. "The Dreamers and Achievers Garden" — a little strident but could work.
Yeah, still: nothin'.
Back on the phone, we were wrapping it up with some unsolicited helpful hints. Like: "well, what you could do is reach out to organizations in the community that work in this area."
Like, um, yours?
"Well, there are tons of them — just google it!”
Uh, Google? What's that? Oh yeah, the Googles! Why, that's kinda how I found you!
Nothin'.
And we left it at that. She didn't give me any names. Names. Names are gold.
When I got off the phone I had my Leslie Knope moment. I mean, here I had innocently thought that what we were doing here was a simple mitzvah. Not asking anyone for money. Just wanting to reach out to the community we hope to serve for input on how best to serve it.
Maybe I really am that naive. No. Can I really be that naive?
Hmm. It's kinda hot.
Um, I think you might have been speaking with someone who could use the "Special Brained" Garden, maybe a bricked over area. Keep looking for community partners, you haven't found any yet.
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Above and beyond all else, she's extremely sense of humor-challenged.
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Plantasia: The broken people garden
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This had me laughing out loud. The search continues...
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welcome to the world of interaction with social service agencies & organizations. Hate to say it, but - based on my non-empiric experience - they tend to be extremely humor challenged. And self-righteous, to boot.
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Might it have slipped your thoughts for the briefest of moments that you were dealing with a not-for-profit? Even if you yourself represent one, that is? I know in my own volunteering journey I have forgotten to behave less as a businessperson and more as a well-meaning social bureaucrat, especially when soliciting aid and/or business from external and internal customers. Your work experience suggests do-gooding and interest in your fellow human being, yet you come across in your blog as a get-it-done leader. An integrative AC-type of switching is something I always work on myself.
BTW have you considered the Occupational Therapy program at Tufts (it used to be quite good when I was there), or a similar academic partner amongst the 101 institutes of higher education in Beantown? You might find any number of eager students looking for an unconventional project which they could work into some independent study credits with an obliging prof. I've often found partnering with students both in my businesses and my non-profit volunteering to be useful for everybody. Most importantly, I also have found the students and the schools to be way more willing to come up with creative insights that really can work. Probably less at stake in terms of career, social connections, bureaucratic malaise, etc. One just needs to guide the students within a well-defined and self-limiting syllabus so no one becomes too wayward.
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I appreciate your insights, Bryan, and definitely one of the personal challenges of this position is how to bring people together.
I will say that bloggy me is trying hard to hold my tongue on organization business, but this little tidbit was just too delicious. The narrative over at our Victory in the Fenway blog is a little different and somewhat more reflective of the tone in that milieu.
I think your suggestion of going with schools is excellent, and we have been pursuing that, too. And I will definitely look into Tufts! Thanks for the tip!
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This will be awfully uncharitable but if no one is willing to help then give the plot enough attention to prevent it from growing wild but otherwise leave it alone. There is only so much time and energy. Better to invest resources of time and energy where they will return.
From my limited work experience with non-profits that exist to provide a social good: stay the hell away. Never a nastier, more dysfunctional and false set of folks have I met. So my experiences were not so great; hopefully that is the minority.
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It may be that area colleges really are the way to go -- and that may work out really well for everyone involved. The garden will be utilized by the target population, but will also provide a platform for learning. I can't think of a better situation.
I called Tufts yesterday, but have yet to hear back. Am going to continue digging for connections there.
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