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Our Residents

An artistic entrance to the community garden at Riverview Apartments

An artistic entrance to the community garden at Riverview Apartments

At Springfield Housing Authority’s Riverview Apartments, residents have managed to combine the arts of gardening and mural painting, each beautifully so.

The art is a seven- by five-foot mural, painted last year by residents and participants of the Riverview Senior Center, blends the garden on the east side of the Springfield Housing Authority development with a pastoral scene that hints of the hills of Puerto Rico, where many residents were either born or share strong family ties.

The garden is the mainstay summer labor of dozens of Riverview residents and friends. Established nearly 20 years ago on a plot nearly two acres in size, it produces tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers sweet and hot, onions, beans, sunflowers, herbs and much more.

The mural is a new addition, the dream child of Riverview Senior Center Director Moraima Mendoza, an artist herself. She has been running an art program at the center that draws a dozen, sometimes more, seniors on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Budding artists may use the center on their own any day of the week, she said.

Last year, Mendoza thought up the idea of a mural that would combine the garden scene with the lush countryside of Puerto Rico.

“We wanted something beautiful to announce the community garden,” said Mendoza.

Standing beneath the new mural at Springfield Housing Authority's Riverview Apartments community garden are Moraima Mendoza, director of the Riverview Senior Center, gardener Carmen Albertorio, and Gleny Vargas, director of fitness for the Springfield Department of Elder Affairs.

Standing beneath the new mural at Springfield Housing Authority’s Riverview Apartments community garden are Moraima Mendoza, director of the Riverview Senior Center, gardener Carmen Albertorio, and Gleny Vargas, director of fitness for the Springfield Department of Elder Affairs.

With donations from the SHA, the Springfield Department of Elder Affairs, the Hampden County Sherriff’s office and the North End Campus Coalition, work began last summer under the guidance of Mendoza and local artist Numa Navarro, whose name is among several signed in the lower right corner.

The colorful scene took all summer to paint, Mendoza noted, and has place of pride at the northwest corner of the fenced-in garden.

Mendoza noted that the mountains, animals and plants featured are native to Puerto Rico. Also, the people pictured in the garden, raking, weeding and watering, are real people, including herself, Navarro, Carmen Albertorio and many others who work the summer months to plant, tend and reap fresh, healthy food.

As for the garden, it is supported by the SHA and the Hampden County Sherriff’s office.

For the past 10 years it has been organized and run by Riverview Apartments resident Reyes Morales, who divides the two dozen of plots and collects fees paid by gardeners, which amounts to $15 for 20 square feet of land. All funds go back into the garden, under an agreement managed by SHA.

This year there are 11 gardens, with some double, triple and quadruple plots, he noted.

Himself a gardener, Morales said he grows “everything” and looks forward to making the Puerto Rican relish specialty soffritto, a stewed sauce that combines hot and sweet peppers, other chopped vegetables and is used in cooking.

“It’s best for Spanish cooking,” Morales noted. “We like a lot of taste in our food.”

Riverview Apartments resident Reyes Morales manages the community garden to the east of the Springfield Housing Authority development.

Riverview Apartments resident Reyes Morales manages the community garden to the east of the Springfield Housing Authority development.

Other gardeners make the sauce, using it and then either giving it away, selling it to friends or freezing for later use.

Like other Riverview gardeners, Morales said time spent there is good for the soul.

“You’re outside, you’re doing something good for yourself, and you’re socializing with your neighbors,” he said. “Once we start the harvest, we have a big lunch together with what we’ve grown.”

The Riverview Senior Center has a four-plot garden this year, and is also planning to use the fruits of their labors on regular lunches that will bring healthy, fresh meals to participants.  The weekly lunches, called ‘Healthy Fridays,’ will be open to residents and center participants and will feature grilled vegetables, salads and other garden delights.

“We’ll introduce them to dishes and vegetables that they may not be used to,” Mendoza said.

Others agree.

“The garden is a good thing for all of us,” noted Gleny Vargas, who is fitness director at Springfield’s Department of Elder Affairs, and is participating in the Senior Center’s plot.

“I love to garden,” she noted. “It’s a great feeling, and we get to eat what we grow. It’s healthy for all of us. It also helps people to get to know each other, get out of their homes and make friends.”

The new mural at Riverview Apartments community garden is signed by the key artists.

The new mural at Riverview Apartments community garden is signed by the key artists.

3585 days ago / Our Residents
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