This story comes from Nate Tubbs, our Chicago Area Grounded Faith Convener.

In 2016, my family moved to The Island neighborhood on the West side of Chicago. This micro-neighborhood sits at the intersection of three large and very different communities, each reflecting the beauty and diversity of our city.

After several years of listening, learning from our neighbors, and showing up to local meetings and institutions in our community, two things became clear—our neighborhood lacked third spaces for neighbors to meet and kids to play, and a vacant lot on our block was a point of complaint as weeds, garbage, and vehicles had taken over the space.

In the spring of 2018, residents from our block invited neighbors, our local school, and city departments to an Earth Day cleanup of this vacant, city-owned property. There was a sense of pride and possibility that formed that day, which led us into ongoing cleanup and activation of the space.

Over the next few years, we made incremental improvements — adding garden beds, seating, a fire pit — and began hosting the community there. It quickly became a go-to space for events, meetings, movie nights, birthday parties, and more.

In 2020, we secured the property as a ‘neighbor space’ and became part of a program called the West Side Nature Play Network, providing an opportunity to bring expertise and funding to transform and improve the space further. Team members from NeighborSpace (a land trust for ‘community managed public spaces’) and Human Scale (a nonprofit that designs ‘functional, beautiful, meaningful public spaces’) led us through a community design process that involved residents young and old in shaping the design and uses for a new and improved community garden. Our three primary goals were community, play, and beauty.

For the next year, residents put in the sweat equity! While several portions of the build were contracted (paving, fencing, trees), most of the garden was built with our own hands Countless hours were invested by dozens of neighbors of all ages, a truly beautiful thing.

In the Fall of 2021, the Island Oasis Nature Play Garden was completed and we held a grand opening celebration. It was an incredible day for our neighborhood. A space that was once abandoned and marked by complaint had been transformed into a space for connection filled with celebration!

The Island Oasis is now an active third space in our neighborhood. It is used for relaxation, play, gardening, meetings, celebrations, movie nights, and our annual Taco Fest and Halloween Spooktacular parties.

The story of this garden stands as a symbol of the power of neighbors working for the common good of their place. May it be a space where community grows, kids play, and beauty is enjoyed for generations.

A Parish Story from the Island | Chicago, IL

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