This post was contributed by Cohort 20 Member Anisa McMillan.
On Wednesday, October 16, Bay View Houses Farm had a visit from the Deputy Mayor of New York City! Vicki Been is the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development, which includes oversight and coordination across a number of city agencies, including NYCHA. She was a very gracious guest, she was extremely impressed with our farm, and it was obvious she really was happy to be here. We gave everyone visiting, along with Deputy Mayor Been, a tour of the farm and we opened up as a team about who we are, why we serve, and what it means to us to be apart of Green City Force and AmeriCorps. We also showcased our call & responses to really show who we are and what we believe as Corps Members.
Last but definitely not least, our food advocates Anisa and MJ, along with Chef Sam, made a delicious tomato soup with our very own tomatoes, scallions, and basil all from the farm! I hope to someday meet Deputy Mayor Been once again and have her back on our farm. It ended up raining but we didn’t let that stop our grit! We still took a great group photo and the Bayview team persevered through the rain to put all of our equipment away and finish our day strong! This was an excellent experience for our team and we were all extremely proud of being able to showcase all of the hard work we’ve been putting into beautifying Bay View Houses over the past few months. Team Sequel did an amazing job advocating for ourselves, showing what we know, what we are capable of, and showing just how much we care for the people and for the change!