We Are Stronger Together

Hutton House has long been a supporter of assisting in providing programming and training to meet the “whole person”. Our services have met participants needs and interests in a variety of areas, including literacy, employment training, fitness, life skills and respite among many others. We saw a need for healthy food awareness and transferable skills training and were looking to find ways to marry these two areas. We began by working with a local farm and developing healthy food awareness and employment training and quickly saw an interest in this area by our participants. The missing piece was a location in the city, a requirement to bring continuous programming to our participants. Out of this need forged two very strong partnerships with KEVA and the Nathan T. Deslippe Fund. These partnerships gave our project a home in Kensington Village with KEVA and Innovation and Food Security with The Nathan T. Deslippe Fund.

Hutton House’s role in PATCH is to administer and provide the facilitation, training and develop collaboration. Hutton House has long supported a wide range of programs and partnerships within the city and we will build off of this experience and expertise to forward the training in food security, transferable skills and operate a space that welcomes our community.

Hutton House has been serving our community since 1952 and we are excited to develop this new chapter to offer innovation through urban agriculture programming and be able to provide our community with healthy food understanding, transferable skills and employment opportunities. It is our wish to be able to expand our services with care, purpose and quality to all in need.

Nathan was a community builder, everywhere he went and no matter who he spoke to he carried a presence of positivity and kindness that inspired people. The Nathan T. Deslippe Fund was founded in honour of Nathan’s memory and dedication to community to offer opportunities for growth, innovation and dedication through positivity.

Out of our dedication for our community Nathan’s Urban Farm was developed. Nathan’s Urban Farm is an indoor aeroponic farm that produces food for those in need. Beginning as a measure to assist members of our community receive healthy produce during the pandemic, Nathan’s Urban Farm will continue as an innovative centre for food security and innovative agricultural training.

The Nathan T. Deslippe Fund will continue to seek innovative and caring ways to serve our community and provide opportunities for people in need. Our commitment to the PATCH project will be seen in a continuous goal to train and provide food security and innovative employment skills to participants of the PATCH.

The question of food security has been one of the most important drivers of KEVA projects which has resulted in the creation of three well used and well visited London community gardens: Wood Street Park Food Forest, West Lion’s Park Gleaning Food Forest, and Petersville Community Garden. West Lion’s Park Food Forest is currently managed by Sanctuary London an organization working with people experiencing poverty and homelessness. Petersville Community Garden has more than 20 allotments for individuals and families to enjoy. Wood Street Park with its beautiful food forest is the site where Kensington Village neighbors host most of their larger gatherings including Canada Day and Harvest Party celebrations, Indigenous ceremonies and celebrations, summer concert series, Saturday morning cafes and much-much more. KEVA has grown into one of London’s most active neighborhood organizations organizing approximately 5-10 events each year and constantly innovating with new programming that draws hundreds of people from across the neighborhood and beyond. Kensington Village is often referred to as “London’s Best Kept Secret” partly due to its physical charm but also due to its friendly and caring neighbors. Urban League of London awarded KEVA with its Green Brick award for the establishment of this unique public space.

Kensington Village neighbours have been discussing creative ways to re-purpose a City of London Works Yard in Cavendish Park at least since the establishment of Wood St Park Food Forest in 2015. The idea of transforming the Works Yard into a vibrant community space of urban agriculture and community celebration grew out of multiple discussions between neighbours and transformed into a collaborative project with Hutton House and Nathan Deslippe Memorial Fund.
KEVA’s role in the PATCH project is one of support and hospitality. The Cavendish Community Food Hub is going to be one of the many cherished community amenities for the neighbours living in this wonderful neighbourhood. KEVA is supporting the establishment and maintenance of the food hub with volunteer work and just keeping an eye out for this public space. KEVA is also going to be central in planning community programming at the food hub bringing together food hub participants, neighbours and Londoners coming to visit from further afield. Currently two of the PATCH staff are members of this neighbourhood.

KEVA’s interest in food security initiatives grew again in 2021 when the Boulevard Veggie Project was launched using funds from the Urban League of London. The idea behind the project is to help neighbours establish vegetables gardens on their boulevards in order to grow food for Sanctuary London’s dinner program that feeds hundreds of people experiencing poverty and homelessness.
Small individual patches spread around the neighbourhood along with larger patches such as Cavendish Community Food Hub, the food forests and the community garden can go a long way to alleviate food security concerns as well as to positively enhance the mental and physical health of people directly involved in these projects. Such actions lead to community resiliency with multiple environmental, economic, social and health benefits. Kensington Village is well on its way to becoming an Agri-hood, a place where growing food in cities is practiced and celebrated.