Cha Cha Connor
from The Pulse 28 to Watch in 2008
27. Cha Cha Connor, 24, Activist and artist

Cha Cha Connor is a 24 year old Worcester native, anarcha-holic, human rights activist and performance artist who gets excited about affordable development, ending homelessness, and connecting with anyone who works for a more just Worcester.

In the past year, Cha Cha been in the Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca “…doing human rights observation as people’s movements struggle for economic justice and self determination against a repressive government. Returning to the U.S. in April, I went on an east-coast tour as the Supermodels for Oaxaca, a protest theatre ‘models strike’ that used stilettos and style to draw attention to Oaxacan social movements.”

June 1 saw Cha Cha crash land on Millbury St. in South Kelley Square. “It’s a great neighborhood to be involved in, with a ton of artistic and activist creativity. One group I’m excited about is the residents and regulars at the Hotel Vernon who came up with the idea to do a ‘Women of Green Island’ calendar, celebrating the local places that are important to us, and fundraising for neighborhood improvements.”

Since 2005, Cha Cha has worked with a group of residents from all over Worcester called Real Solutions who raise concerns about how poor and vulnerable residents are being treated, especially with regard to city policies on homelessness, housing, and social services. Says Cha Cha, “Too often, ‘revitalization’ takes the form of gentrification, and happens without consulting working and poor folks already living in and contributing to a neighborhood. In Worcester I think we have a chance to do it differently - to organize for just and sustainable economic development that prioritizes our rights to affordable housing, decent jobs, education and healthcare.”

Venture into the nightlife of the Canal District, and you’ll probably find Cha Cha singing for the Happy Hour Hyjinx ~ a serenade of funk-inspired local tales of love and pride and beer and positive change.

Green Island Gardens Youth Employment and Urban Beautification Program
The Program
Pernet Family Health Services is a “neighborhood-based home health and social service agency” with a commitment to “supporting families to be physically, socially, psychologically, and spiritually whole.1”
The agency has been serving the Green Island region of Worcester, MA since 1968.
This summer, Pernet has received funding to create part-time summer jobs for underprivileged youth. Pernet has decided to use its youth employment program to fund the creation of a 75' x 16' community garden and install container flower beds throughout the area’s small business district.
Pernet chose to create The Green Island Garden because...

• The garden will bring healthy, affordable, organic food to the people of Green Island, helping to eradicate food insecurity and malnourishment.


• Community gardens offer space for citizens to socialize and bond with one another, fostering a stronger and healthier social fabric.


• Community gardens localize the food industry, reducing both the price of people’s food and the city’s carbon footprint created by imported products.

Recently, citizens of Green Island were asked to identify aspects of their community they would like to see improve. A prevalent theme was the lack of cleanliness in the area and the over-all appearance of the neighborhood. Pernet chose to sell container flower gardens to local merchants in order to...

• Beautify the area


• Increase business to a vibrant community of local merchants who suffer from the run-down look of the neighborhood


• Increase the community’s pride in where they live
  

In addition to the benefits of the projects themselves, employing underprivileged neighborhood youth to carry out the program will:

• Bring employment skills and training to youth who may otherwise be left out of the job market.


• Increase a sense of community ownership over the gardens.


• Inform youth on topics of environmental justice that directly impact their lives, such as food security, climate change, and soil degradation.

1 Pernetfamilyhealth.org

How We Can Help
I was very inspired by Lizzy Fox, Clark University student who wrote a grant for herself to administer this program with Paulette LaCoste, Pernet's Program Director.

I volunteered to help:

• design the community gardens


• research options and design and create a sidewalk plant container prototype (low cost precast pipes 18" etched with a grinding wheel and painted with transparent concrete stains


• etch and create artistic flower planters with the teen workers to fill the orders from neighborhood business owners participating in the program


• create a brochure to help promote the program to business owners


• spec and price materials


• rally people to donate for the wish list

If you or anyone you know can help here is the wish list of needed items.

contact me here if you have any of these items please

The Donations Wish List
(Quantity) Material
(120 linear feet) of fence posts-4”X4”Lumber (fence posts)
(364 linear feet) 2”x 4” Lumber (fence rails)
(81) 8’ 6’X6” Timbers (garden beds)
(216 linear feet) ½” rebar
Spikes
Nails
Screws
Plants (flowers and vegetables- must already be seeded)
(5 cans) Green Spray Paint
(3 gallons) Behr Concrete Stain (can be bought at Home Depot)
Soil Inputs (details TBA)

Tools Wish List
(Quantity) Tool
(1) Hose
(2) Hose Wand
(3) Watering Can
(2) Watering Can (that can reach hanging plants)
(7)Gardening Gloves
(7) Safety Glasses
(1) Line Level
(15) Sponge Brushes
(7) Hand Clippers
(5) File
(1) Level
(1) Line Level
(10) Shovel
(10) Rake
(10) Hoe
(10) Trowel
(7) Bucket
(3) Measuring Tape
(10) Hammer
(2) Square
(1) Hack Saw
(1) Gardening Cart

Vegetable Wish List
Tomatoes
Green Beans
Yellow Beans
Purple Beans
Swiss Chard
Radishes
Carrots
Beets
Summer Squash
Butternut Squash
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Bell Peppers
Hot Peppers
Parsley
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
Tarragon
Lettuce (various kinds)
Mini Watermelons
Flowers—any flower species that would form symbiotic relationship with different veggies
Flowers and mini evergreens for container gardens (several varieties so we can give options to store owners)