Meet Julialynne

Meet Julialynne: Julialynne Walker has over 30 years of experience working with public and private sector organizations managing projects and providing strategic planning and guidance in the areas of social development, change management, public policy and the African Diaspora. In 2013, Julialynne established the Bethany Bronzeville Community Garden. Learn more about how the garden supports food justice in the Bronzeville community.

Describe your food justice project in Bronzeville: Bethany Bronzeville Community Garden is the first space in Bronzeville where I nurtured the ground to become a pollinator garden and food source. Through the Bronzeville Urban Growers, we now have over 15 families within this corridor who are growing either in boxes or in the ground. The establishment of the Bronzeville Growers Market in 2018 has provided a weekly, local space for inexpensive, healthy food within a culturally appropriate environment. I am now working on the establishment of a micro grocery store for the area. I see this as the vertical integration response to the need for accessible, affordable, healthy food within this community in a manner that gives residents agency.

What need are you fulfilling with the Bethany Bronzeville Community Garden? This garden supports a free lunch program that was initiated over 15 years ago when there were no hot meals served on the weekend in the area. Since 2013, we have supplemented food acquired through the MidOhio Food Bank, which has provided the chef the ability to better plan meals, incorporate fresher ingredients and use unique crops that would otherwise not be available.

How has the partnership with Besa supported your work? Besa has been very proactive in addressing and supporting our needs and extremely cooperative in ensuring that the groups assigned are a good fit.

How has the Bethany Bronzeville Community Garden impacted the community? We have shown how to turn an abandoned lot into a food source, incorporated members of the community with a beneficial activity, become a place of focus for other area services and are generally a safe space for people.

As a leader in the community, why is the work at the garden meaningful to you? I did not plan this as an area of work and am pleased that it has organically evolved as a response to a true need. It has also served as an inspiration for others to become involved in the food justice movement.

Watch the video of Julialynne at the Bethany Bronzeville Community Garden: https://vimeo.com/676083777/dba263558d