Planted with Purpose for the Flourishing of Community
Jean-Paul Hernández has both his roots and his heart in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood. Born 40 years ago on Sackett Avenue to parents who immigrated to the U.S. from Honduras, Jean-Paul has been a lifelong resident and in recent years an activist dedicated to creating a better life and a better neighborhood.
Jean-Paul is well-known in the neighborhood for BarrioBoy Garden, a project of love and faith for him that goes well beyond its name.
“Really, it’s much more than a garden,” says Jean-Paul. “It’s a space where the community can come together and be involved in things we often neglect here in the inner city.”
As example, Jean-Paul collaborates with the Ohio Division of Wildlife to shine light on the sustainability of monarch butterflies. Other projects highlight the role of wildlife and pollinators in the city.
“It starts with the garden and the ability for us to grow our own food, but it’s really about three of the things that bring people together: art, music and food,” he says. “If you trace your own history, no matter where you are from, those are some of the most important things in your culture. And it proves that at the end of the day, we have more similarities than we have differences.”
The BarrioBoy Garden was one of the centerpiece projects at Building Hope in the City’s (BHITC) recent Rally CLE, an event that equipped leaders from both Clark-Fulton and Stockyards neighborhoods to host community improvement projects. Jean-Paul’s project involved building a stage, benches and a firepit at the garden for his community to enjoy.
Encouraged by the success of Rally CLE, some of the neighborhood leaders saw an unfulfilled need: the ability for them to come together to support each other, to build camaraderie and to learn from each other and others.
At a dinner following the event, the neighborhood leaders, including Jean-Paul, agreed to form the Community Leadership Cooperative with support from BHITC.
“They all said they wanted to keep the spirit of good works of Rally CLE on an ongoing basis,” says Anthony Giambroni, BHITC’s Manager of Community Development. “They wanted a connective tissue to create a sustainable impact.”
The cooperative currently includes about 15 leaders from the Clark-Fulton, Stockyards and Brooklyn Centre neighborhoods. It meets monthly to share news, resources and to hear from outside experts on a variety of topics. A recent meeting, for example, featured a workshop on how to apply for grants.
“Sometimes people in our community believe we can do everything by ourselves, but we can’t,” says Jean-Paul. “The cooperative has provided us with a lot of mentorship from people who have been doing it for a long time.
“Like some of the other neighborhood leaders, I’m new at this, so the ability to meet other people also involved in similar issues has helped me a lot.” Jean-Paul believes his neighborhood is changing in a positive way but still has problems it needs to face, hopefully through efforts like the cooperative.
“Part of the reason I’m doing what I’m doing is because I’m tired of waiting,” says Jean-Paul.“ As the saying goes, you have to be the change in the world you want to see.”