Up on the Roof

by John Cannizzo

Everything starts with a dream. C.G. Jung observes in “On the Nature of Dreams" that dreams serve a compensatory function. These compensations are momentary adjustments to one-sidedness or equalization of disturbed balance.

People with terminal disease live at Bailey Holt House (BHH) - many are battling HIV. Liza Watkins, an intern at their Residence on Christopher Street, contacted HSNY. New York Botanical Garden had recommended us. Lisa wanted to know if we could help BHH. Of course we said “Yes."

Though the river view from the House's roof is beautiful, the barren space was underutilized. BHH had very little money for improvements. Home Depot gave a grant for materials, and a private donor pledged money for workshops.

BHH's dream is to create a rooftop garden to engage residents in the healthy, life affirming activity of gardening. After discussing the project at residents' weekly meetings, Liza asked about placing a BHH resident in HSNY's internship program. BHH would subsidize the resident.

This spring was very demanding. We installed many gardens. Twenty-one interns enrolled - that's more than the total that worked with us all last year. At the end of the day, the gloves on our hands were sometimes tatters, literally shredded. Now there is light work watering, planting annuals and routine maintenance. The clinical staff of BHH approved T., a resident, to join GreenTeam.

Volunteers other than residents also worked on the garden. Liza's friend showed them how to construct containers. Although the watching residents seemed interested in the garden, I still wondered if they would use it.

Liza and I went to Home Depot to pick out plants. I brought them back to BHH to put up on the roof until planting day. When I got there a group of BHH residents met me outside. They wanted to plant. We filled the containers at the front entrance with arbor vitae and impatiens. It was very hot. Some of the residents started to act out in a very childish way squirting each other with hoses. The next day we went back and planted the roof with vegetables, small trees, and perennials.

Since then T. had surgery and is restricted to only looking after the rooftop garden. Now we are looking for money to do a series of weekly workshops.

*Photos: John Cannizzo

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Dreams can be interpreted by any thoughtful person with the help of the dreamer. The patron saint of the HSNY internship program is Joseph (of the coat of many colors) - Prisoner, dreamer, successful business man. If you are real then all work is real for you. But if you are not real with yourself, then no matter what work you find, though it may be ever so sought after, you will not be able to sustain it. Interns must plan the change they dream of. But what are you going to do when someone is enamored of an impossible dream? What do you say when they ask you how to go about getting it? Much harm can be done by an instructor speaking wrongly, whether for or against it. I usually end up saying, “I have no idea how that dream can be achieved. What do you think that you should do?" That, and being willing to just see what happens.

Liza (in cowboy hat) dreamed the project up. I wish that I had a better picture of her. She is a very competent, conscious, conscientious, attentive person with real devotion to her aim. She realized the opportunity for a vast area of possibilities. Interns at back: Jamie, Dax, and Brian.

The beautiful view somehow has not tempted residents to use the rooftop. The Douglas fir containers were donated by Home Depot. Several coats of linseed oil will make the containers as durable as ACQ (the replacement for Pressure Treated) timber but absolutely safe for vegetable planting. Home Depot is a very good source of free materials if you are a non-profit organization doing work in the community.

We put containers outside of the entrance of BHH. The Pride parade was due to pass the day after our planting. There was lively discussion about whether the marchers would trash the new planting. We had an unscheduled planting outside the day that I delivered the plants. No damage was done during the parade. The maintenance crew which is very busy was skeptical about the benefits and sustainability of a garden. By the end of the morning they had procured hoses and painted the 2 existing cement planters which we also planted into. (note the plastic forks placed around the tree pit as a preventative against intrusion by dogs)