Cynthia (l), Monica, and Lisa pose in the yard that will get a refresh thanks to Monica and HTFC

Cynthia (l), Monica, and Lisa pose in the yard that will get a refresh thanks to Spark, Monica and HTFC

The North End Women’s Centre has been improving the lives of women in Winnipeg’s North End for over 30 years. There have been many changes in that time, including to a once-loved community garden area that now only exists as a few small raised garden boxes. Cynthia Drebot, Executive Director, and Lisa Lacroix, Community Economic Development Manager, are determined to see the space revitalized as a new healing garden.

When we matched NEWC with Monica Giesbrecht, principal at HTFC, we figured it would be a strong match, but little did we know how perfectly it would align. Monica specializes in creating landscapes that help foster healthy communities, urban revitalization, and culturally sensitive environments, among a great many other things. She has a strong belief in giving back, and is dedicating some of her work time to help the women’s centre with their new garden.

Monica and a few people from the HTFC team will be working with Lisa, Cynthia, and a small committee to listen and learn about what NEWC wants in their new healing garden. It will contain elements of the old garden, both in terms of design and actual plants from people like Jaki Skye, who held onto the seeds in the hopes of a new healing garden.

The final outcome of this match will be concept drawings that NEWC can use to fund raise, in the hopes of making this garden a reality in 2017. If you’re interested in supporting the project, get in touch with Cynthia at cynthia at newcentre.org.


If you work for a community development organization in Winnipeg and are looking for short-term, project-specific help, or if you’d like to volunteer your expertise, start here. Our matches make it possible for organizations to achieve what they can’t do on their own – be part of that change today!

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