In The Garden Together:

An Interview on Collaboration and Cultivating Seeds of Trust in Organization and Community

In October of 2020 WholeHeart partnered with the Releaf Collective to provide facilitation framework and community building support through consultation and strategic planning. This partnership has afforded incredible synergy and growth opportunities to both communities and celebrates the power of listening, love and connection that is so intrinsic to WholeHeart’s way of being.

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Below is an excerpt from an interview our Director of Development and Community Engagement, Natanya Vanderlaan conducted with Releaf’s Community Organizer, Olivia Peña, reflecting on inter-organizational partnership, their vision for cultivating community through cross pollination, trust building and the commitment to stay in the conversation.

How might you describe the WholeHeart / Releaf Partnership, and the specific work of the Vermont Releaf Collective?

“Releaf is a network created by and for BIPOC Vermonters who are passionate about land, environment, agriculture, and food. We cultivate this network, creating membership-based space for continuity and regular community building. Releaf is a collective, but more so on an individual level, we are creating interpersonal relationships, or creating space for that to be cultivated.*

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I would describe Releaf as a community garden: everyone in Releaf plays so many roles. We're like farmers of the space and tend and cultivate what we're creating here & I think we play a role as pollinators.

In partnership, Releaf and WholeHeart are cross pollinating and using what we're learning, interchangeably to support and inform the community that we're creating. Because it allows people to learn about each other and their passions and helps others make their joy and their dreams flourish.”

I know that these spaces we’re cultivating have given me a lot of hope, around what it might look like to model partnerships between the BIPOC community and white-led organizations in the future. Do you think that the relationship we’re building could potentially model what similar partnerships look like in the future?

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“I think so. I do have hope that there is a future, a standard of how we want to interact with white-led organizations in Releaf. We've had space to talk about what a safe and equitable partnership looks like, and talk about that in kind of brave spaces. And so, from knowing that we're creating a framework, and a set of values that we'd like to consider as we interact with the broader community. I feel like there is so much opportunity, and a structure that we can follow for healthy partnerships.”

At WholeHeart a lot of our spaces right now are predominantly white but there's a longing for more diverse community, staying in the conversation, and engaging in ways where cross pollination continues to happen in an organic and beautiful collaborative way.

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“Thank you, Natanya for saying that, because I just feel like y'all have such a commitment to really being in it and committing for the long haul to build relationships. And I guess I don't know, I mean, not everyone sets out to be like: ‘We're going to trust each other.‘ I feel like I've been so comfortable with y'all, and this little seed that's planted, and I can feel the commitment, and positive energy supporting Releaf and what we're working on. From the beginning, WholeHeart has committed to planting a seed of trust, and it's grown so much.”

Last question, as a non-BIPOC person reading this, what are ways that people might support Releaf? Is there anything you'd like to say to the Whole Heart community at large?

“Yeah definitely, I would just stress the importance of uplifting BIPOC spaces, because they're here, and they really are so important. I think having white allies who affirm, like, “Yes, I am happy to hear that there is a BIPOC centered space, and that there is that space for joy and healing and growth and community.” That, and being welcoming when those spaces do cross-pollinate.”

I love that. Here's to staying in the conversation. Liv, thank you again.


*BIPOC is an acronym that stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.


Still reading? Here’s an extra tidbit…

Okay, so just for fun, can we talk about how much Releaf has grown since October ‘20? I know that I was member number 27 - very proud of that. How many members do we have now?

We started accepting members at the end of July (2020) and have 130 members. We had 100 in April and last night two people joined around similar times but from completely opposite ends of the state. I was like, What's going on?

And how many counties do we have represented?

12 out of 14.

I ask this because I know we’re (BIPOC) not all from Chittenden County, which is like this standing myth that Chittenden County has some diverse representation, but the rest of Vermont's all white, or farmers are all white, everything else is white - and that's not true. I feel like we’re rewriting that narrative and saying “Hey we're here. This is happening, and we're committed to staying in this conversation”.

Two thirds of relief members are from outside of Chittenden County, and, yeah, totally. Yes to everything that you're saying, because we're out here too -all around. And that invites so much opportunity, and a need for us to be offering things around the state. I also feel like that invites again, WholeHearts expertise and experience, in creating the shape that these spaces take around the state.

As a non - BIPOC person reading this, what are ways that people might support Releaf? Is there anything you'd like to say to the Whole Heart community at large?

Yeah definitely, I would just stress the importance of uplifting BIPOC spaces, because they're here, and they really are so important. I think having white allies who affirm, like, “Yes, I am happy to hear that there is a BIPOC centered space, and that there is that space for joy and healing and growth and community.” That, and being welcoming when those spaces do cross -pollinate

I love that. Here's to staying in the conversation. Liv, thank you again.