20 Great Things That Happened This Year

1. 120 walkers walked to fight homelessness. [Coldest Night of the Year Walk]

2. Dancers turned community stories into beautiful movements. [Northumberland Contemporary Dance Collective perform at Imaginate 2015]​

3. We were challenged by the facts of poverty. [Steve Buist speaks at Imaginate 2015]

4. A dedicated group of board members guided our organization through a lot of behind-the-scenes growth. [l-r: Jason Orchard, Kim Orchard, Nell Frair, Kaye Torrie, Heather Roy, Karyn Kennedy]

5. A lot of art was made by a lot of people, straight from the heart. [Weekly creative arts group members work on collective art piece]

6. Many, many meals were enjoyed together. [Celebrating December birthdays at our weekly community dinner, St. John's Hall]

7. Our community garden on Peter Street grew and grew. That growth allowed an experiment in social enterprise--Green Wood Greens booth at Port Hope Farmer's Market. [Ruth and summer student, Josh, stake and tie some tomatoes]

8. First time theatre performers wrote and acted in pieces based on their own, very moving, personal stories. [Performance & Disability workshop series]

9. The eighties hit the golf course for our annual fundraising Greens & Woods Golf Tournament at Cobourg Creek Golf Course. 

10. We listened to people who are struggling. [Trent University's Cyndi Gilmer collects personal narratives of homelessness for a unique research project]

11. Thanks to Northumberland United Way's Day of Caring, our community garden received a much needed storage shed. [Cameco and CPK employees volunteer their skills to build a shed, from the ground up, in one half day]

12 The community (individuals, businesses, churches) generously supported our work. [St. Anthony's Catholic Elementary School raised money and put on a community meal for Green Wood]

13. Community 101 became a monthly gathering to engage more deeply with some of the challenges our community faces. [The Health Unit's Kristina Nairn explains Social Determinants of Health factors]

14.Trinity College School's Week Without Walls welcomed members of our community to make art in their beautiful studios. [TCS teacher, Tamara, guides Darlen, John and Gary through a new project]

15. Our community connected with a community in The Ukraine, through story, songs and love. [Mark and Marichka perform Ukrainian folk songs at Imaginate 2015]

16. Students on placement with Green Wood made big contributions over several months. [Trent Nursing student, Carlee, prepares food with Kevin, as part of a project on social change through eating together]
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17. Moving our base of operations to a much larger and more welcoming space at 18 Ontario St. has created many new opportunities.
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18. Art took to the streets when Green Wood hosted a kids community art project during Slidestreet celebrations. [Kids add their design to our long canvas inspired by circles of connection]

19 Our annual solstice celebration at the community garden was the perfect time to create floral crowns, drum and give thanks for the gifts of the earth.

20. We were often invited to tell our story of community change through honouring the worth of each person. [David Sheffield gave a talk at Port Hope Probus Club]