Divine Providence, Continued
None of these opportunities would exist without the land itself, which came as a gift to The Trustees last year from the Sisters of Providence. This Catholic community, which administers several healthcare facilities in the greater Springfield area, has served the poor of western Massachusetts through holistic healing and spiritual care for 135 years.
“In the 1980s, we revisited our mission and direction, and through a process of education we began to understand that without a healthy planet, we can’t have healthy bodies,” explains Sister Elizabeth Oleksak. This core realization inspired the Sisters to extend their healing focus to the Earth. In recent years, this in turn led them to consider the best use for the riverside property they had owned for more than a century. “We had recently started leasing part of it to Nuestras Raíces,” explains Oleksak. Impressed with the program’s positive results, the Sisters were mulling how to permanently protect the tract when a realtor approached them with a “substantial offer” to buy the land for development.
That spurred the Sisters to invite The Trustees to join a discussion with them and Nuestras Raíces about how best to manage the property for conservation, community space, and agriculture. Meanwhile, Oleksak says with a laugh, the Sisters told the disappointed realtor that they had already started the process of conserving the land. In the end, she says, “We felt The Trustees shared our goals for the property – they had a long history of managing land for conservation, and our vision and values were similar.”
The Trustees and Nuestras Raíces agreed that the land should continue to be used for farming and community events, including an annual harvest festival that attracts about 2,500 people from all over the area. “This is a very active community space,” says Ross. The reservation also helps students from the community learn about conservation and green jobs. The Trustees recently created the Holyoke Youth Conservation Corps, a summer job programs for teenagers. The Corps has helped care for The Trustees’ Holyoke reservations, including Dinosaur Footprints and Little Tom Mountain. “Now, at Land of Providence, we also have high-school interns,” says Forbush. “They are joining with youth in Nuestras Raíces programs in learning about agriculture and conservation, and helping take care of the land.”
Javier Rodriguez is one of three interns, all veterans of the Youth Conservation Corps, who labored last summer to prepare Land of Providence for opening – lopping out tangles of bittersweet and honeysuckle, clearing the riverbank overlooks, and spreading wood chips over new trails. “My friend José and I have been working for The Trustees since we were 17,” says Rodriguez, 19, who is working for The Trustees again this summer. “I love to take out those invasive plants, and now when I see them in our yard at home, I get rid of them.”
Just before opening day in May, Rodriguez was looking forward to being one of the guides who will show off the property to visitors. “Our vision is to make this place nice for people, welcoming, so they come and enjoy the property more often.”
It’s a vision shared by all of the parties involved in this groundbreaking partnership. And shared vision, Oleksak points out, goes way back in time: The Trustees and the Sisters of Providence were founded a year apart, in 1891 and 1892 respectively.
“The Sisters and The Trustees brainstormed about what to call the property, and The Trustees suggested Land of Providence,” she explained. “It was only after we agreed that the Sisters learned that our foundress came from a part of Montréal known as Terre de Provident – ‘Land of Providence.’”
It’s just one of the remarkable details that make this urban outpost a truly special place.
