Give Me a Chance's Guadalupe Garden groundbreaking will include family fun

Intermountain Catholic

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The blueprint for the Give Me A Chance Guadalupe Garden is displayed in the foyer of the organization's Learning Center.

OGDEN — The public is invited to the groundbreaking celebration for the Give Me a Chance Guadalupe Garden in Ogden April 26.

The garden is intended to serve as a place of relaxation and beauty for the clients of Give Me a Chance, which teaches various skills to low-income women.

Jesuit Father Richard Hunt, Saint Florence Parish administrator in Huntsville, will preside over the groundbreaking. Among the guests of honor will be Daughter of Charity sisters from the Provincial House in Los Altos, Calif.: Superior Sister Marjory Ann Baez, Counselor Sister Betty Marie Dunkel and Foundation Executive Director Sister Joyce Weller.

A day of family fun has been planned, with food, games, music, more than 20 local vendors, Give Me a Chance handmade items, door prizes, free gifts and drawing opportunities. Admission is free; a taco or BBQ lunch will be available for purchase. There will be a raffle drawing for one-half beef that is cut, wrapped and frozen, and two drawings for a quarter of beef cut, wrapped and frozen.

The Guadalupe Garden "is the work of the Blessed Mother," said Daughter of Charity Sister Maria Nguyen, who founded Give Me a Chance in 2010. After coming up with the idea for the garden, Sr. Maria found the 1.2-acre property on Grant Avenue with an existing building, and "everything else just fell into place in a short time," she said. "I would drive by on my way home and pray to Our Blessed Mother for her help."

In January 2013, the Daughter of Charity Foundation and Daughter of Charity Ministry purchased the property for GMAC, Sr. Maria said. The GMAC committee helped organize the garden project and the blueprint was drawn by Laurie VanZandt, an architect who offered her time and talent pro bono. The plans include a gazebo, pavilion, plaza, several gardens, a pond, a fountain, a prayer and meditation area, a bridge and a children’s playground. The gardens are circular and there are 12 trees in one area and 12 stones in another to represent Dec. 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

"I wanted to have the garden, especially for underprivileged people, because they usually live in crowded areas," Sr. Maria said. "This will give them somewhere to relax and have a place to rebuild themselves spiritually. I chose Guadalupe because the majority of the clients are Spanish-speaking and they have a special devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. I also thought about how Our Blessed Mother intercedes for the immigrants in their trials."

GMAC is in need of sponsors for items such as sod, bark mulch, trees, benches, picnic tables, the gazebo and bricks for the meditation pathways. Donors can have their names or the names of loved ones engraved on the bricks that will be placed in the pathways or on the garden objects.

Give Me a Chance began as a project to teach low-income women sewing skills and basic business practices necessary to establish micro-businesses to help them become self-sufficient. Since then 13 sessions with an average of 10 women have graduated.

"What the women gained in addition to sewing skills was self-esteem and self-confidence, many friendships and a place to socialize," Sr. Maria said.

GMAC now has two locations. The original location on Washington Avenue, which is now the GMAC Bridal & Formal Center, and the new location on Grant Avenue adjacent to the Guadalupe Garden, which is the GMAC Learning Center. The learning center offers adults sewing skills, nutrition classes, parenting classes, counseling and a computer center, as well as a day care and after-school tutoring for children.