{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/9w08w38p12/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Maureen Regan Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eMaureen Regan is the founder of Green Earth Urban Gardens, a Queens-based non-profit organization that focuses on the importance of green spaces and gardening in urban communities. She is also a board member of the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy. In this interview, Maureen discusses how she got involved with the Burial Ground, her previous partnerships with the NYC Parks Department, and the use of native plants in spaces such as the Burial Ground.\u003c/p\u003e (summary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/40457"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2020-12-04 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Maureen Regan (Interviewee)","Melissa Lino (Interviewer)","Gabriella Lacza (Interviewer)","Kevin O'Leary (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["This interview was conducted as part of a short documentary about the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground. The documentary was produced during Dr. Johnathan Thayer’s 790 Public History class in the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at Queens College in Fall 2020."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["2006-2020 (temporal)","The Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground, Flushing, Queens, NY (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eMaureen Regan is the founder of Green Earth Urban Gardens, a Queens-based non-profit\u0026nbsp;organization that focuses\u0026nbsp;on the importance of green spaces and gardening in urban communities. She is also a board\u0026nbsp;member of the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy. In this interview, Maureen discusses how she got involved with the Burial Ground, her previous partnerships with the NYC Parks Department, and the use of native plants in spaces such as the Burial Ground.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/110/745/small/Maureen_Regan.png?1615975897","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Maureen_Regan.mp4"]},"duration":1070.25067,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/110/745/small/Maureen_Regan.png?1615975897","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/110/745/original/Maureen_Regan.mp4?1615975728","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":1070.25067,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Interview Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: My name is Maureen Regan and um, I'm founder of a nonprofit, Green Earth Urban Gardens. And, uh, I think about seven or eight years ago, um, the Parks Department wasn't, um, maintaining this space. It got like uh, overgrown. And so the Conservancy complained and was creating a little bit of fuss. And so the park supervisor at that time, uh, was a friend of mine and he asked, he asked me if I can bring some volunteers and help the Parks Department clean up. And that started, um, a few times a year, we would come and clean up and eventually the Conservancy asked me to join, join with them, join the board. So that's how I became involved with them. We just like helped out the Parks Department, not, uh, get media coverage that they're not doing a good job.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=0.0,56.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMelissa Lino: Is that normal though for the Parks Department to kind of like outsource, to get volunteers, to do maintenance work?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=56.0,61.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: Well, Parks Department have, um, a department called Partnerships for Parks and they're the arm that recruits volunteers and trains volunteers, uh, to clean up parks and do green projects. And it's, that's huge. I mean, thousands of volunteers all over the city through Partnerships for Parks. So when, uh, Department of Parks, New York City Parks Department, can't handle maintenance, that's where Partnerships for Parks come in.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=61.0,91.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMelissa Lino: So before -- is the Burial Ground, like, have you worked on other sites that are similar to the Burial Ground where they're owned by Parks, but they're not technically parks? They're actually like technically historical sites?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=91.0,103.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: Um, I would say, no, this is the only one, um, that -- this is the only site that's a historical site that, that's not just a park. This is not a park. This is like a burial ground.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=103.0,122.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMelissa Lino: So what, when you first learned about the history of the Burial Ground, like what about like, I mean, did you know prior to actually coming to clean up the site or did you learn as you came to the site more regularly and learned about the history of it as a burial ground?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=122.0,135.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: Well, I work at another site. I don't know if you guys know the Quaker House in Flushing? Well, they have a burial ground there, but that's not Parks Department, but, um, that's the Quakers. And so I got introduced to burial ground through there. And at first, you know, I was a little skeptical about going to a burial ground. Uh, but when I came here, there was no sign that it's like a traditional burial ground, like across the street, you know, there were no headstones, so it didn't feel like a burial ground.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=135.0,169.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMelissa Lino: So I know that was something that other members of the Conservancy have spoken about, like Robbie and Mandingo, how they want the site to be recognized as a burial ground. But there's been kind of like pushback from the Parks Department as to having like visible markers of it as a burial ground, like with the headstones. So how would you, like maybe at least personally, or like generally, how would you describe your, um, I guess like initial perceptions of, like you said, the site as a burial ground and trying to like disconnect that idea of it being, not a park, but an actual site where people were once interred?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=169.0,202.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: Well, when I look, when I first came here and I looked at it, I see the memorial wall they had. And so like any, any kind of national park that has memorial walls or, or gives history of something, you, I tend to look at it that way, that it's just, uh, paying homage to things that happened here previously. So I didn't look at it as a park or burial ground. It was a sa -- for me, it was like a sacred space. That something we needed to pay homage to history here, you know, keep it well-maintained.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=202.0,237.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMelissa Lino: So I know we just took a tour of the grounds, but, um, could you talk a little bit about the relationship? Like at least what you think the relationship is between being like the environment of like a site, like a burial ground and its maintenance and how that relates to the, I guess, the feelings that people have when they enter it, like the importance of the environment? Yeah. The like environmental aesthetic and how that relates to people's perceptions of the Burial Ground. Because obviously, like, as you guys have pointed out, people like throw poo over it, right? Like they basically use it almost like as like a wastebin, right? So can you talk about the relationship just between the environment and people's like, I guess, like sense of respect, like what do you think would sort of foster that in the people who don't know that this is a burial ground?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=237.0,282.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: Well, we live in a concrete jungle, the city, right? And if you come here in the springtime, early spring, when the daffodils are blooming and the grass is just coming up and the trees are leafing out, um, it's a space where it's like a refuge in a way, right? You get respite, you come here and it's, it's very calm and beautiful. And when you think about parks, it's run over with, uh, sports and all kinds of other activities. It's a very quiet space. And sometimes we need that, right? In a busy, busy, busy, inner city. There's not many quiet spaces that's well-maintained and have beautiful plants. And so in a space like this, I think the bridge between having a space that you could come and just like inner reflection, even, even think about the past here, 'cause this is all about the past, right? People are buried here and what happened here -- a tragedy, right? So you think about that and then you want to know what kind of plants are around here. And we te-, we tend to think of uh -- or most Americans go, they go to a nursery and buy plants and, uh, just whatever's selling in the Home Depot or something. But we can back to like the original, uh, plantings of the city and look at native plants. And the people that lived here were natives, like Native Americans. And so we try to like, think of native plants, don't need as much maintenance and you want to be in a space where you're not using chemicals. You're not, overwatering, it's just a beautiful space that's surviving. It needs to survive. And so the plantings that were here are native plants and they can survive. And I think when you sit and you reflect in this space, you know, you can actually, um, go back in time a little bit.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=282.0,397.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMelissa Lino: So I, I know you work with volunteers, but have you heard from volunteers like who have come to the site? What have been their like opinions, like working on the site? Like, do they, like I asked you earlier, are they aware that this is like a burial ground or do they just know it as a park? And do they have any -- have they expressed, any like mixed feelings about working at a burial grounds or do they also feel strongly about this idea of preserving the history and honoring the people that were buried here?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=397.0,422.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: So when I, when I recruit volunteers, I recruit volunteers from high school and middle school kids to seniors, Boy Scouts, the U.S. Army. And so everyone looks at it differently, right? As a matter of fact, the middle school and high school, you can't expect them to think that deeply about the significance of the site, but some of them, they move on to college and they think about it and they'll talk to me about it. You know, I keep in touch with a lot of students. I work with, mostly with students. But when you think about the seniors that volunteer, of course, they have great respect and they want to know more about it. So we always work into our volunteer day, part of that program is dedicated to talking about the site, then maybe have uh Mandingo or Robbie or other, other Conservancy members who know the site very well talk a little bit about the history. I always make sure that they can have time to walk around and understand what happened here before. So always to, you know, create that sense of, um, respect and in the future, maybe they come back and understand more about the site.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=422.0,500.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMelissa Lino: Now you mentioned earlier the idea of like native plants, like how they're still thriving. So I'm sure you notice, like this year was like, aside from the pandemic, there have also been the Black Lives Matter protests and like people have been stressing the importance of recognizing uh African-American and other marginalized communities, their contribution to American history in general. So I was just wondering if you had any, like comments on this relationship between the idea of like, so there are native plants but like you were saying we live in a concrete jungle, so it's common for those kinds of native species to kind of just get like thrown to the wayside in the effort to like, I guess, of progress. And then you also have like the, like analogous, uh, real people who are also like, have been here. Like there was like a thriving Black community in Flushing, and obviously there was the Matinecock peoples here, but obviously over time the demographics have changed.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=500.0,550.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMelissa Lino: So do you think there's a relationship between like people's ideas of the environment, like the natural space, as something that has to be kind of like paved over for progress and also how they tend to treat like the remains here, where it was a burial ground for people, but yet it was bought by the Park -- by the Parks Department. And eventually they were like, \"Oh, this is no longer space being used. We need to find a use for it.\" So it was turned into a park. So do you think there's like a relationship between those two ideas of like the environment as something that can be removed just in the name of progress and also marginalized peoples that unfortunately, because they may not be considered to be part of the mainstream history, they can be kind of overlooked as well?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=550.0,590.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: No, I don't agree with that at all. And I think, uh, uh, just to give you a different perspective is, uh, I've been fighting for, uh, Parks Department to adopt a park in Kissena Park for, uh, people with disabilities. Uh, 'cause if you look around Queens, uh, if you talk about progress, we make great strides in developing parks and renovating parks, but we don't make them, uh, acceptable for people with disabilities. And also for, uh, kids with autism or kids on the spectrum. You know, we have to understand that they also need parks and more than, more than normal, regular people who don't need parks, you know, we could find green spaces anywhere. Uh, I've been fighting for that in Queens. And, uh, I haven't been able to get that approved by Community Board Seven, but if you look at the space like this, um, if you make, uh, if you think about the Native Americans that lived here, we can use their plants because they have healing -- you know, lots of native plants have healing properties. That's good for the environment. Good for people. Um, and progress is not always good when it comes to green spaces. And so it's important that we fight to keep those things here, you know, um, 'cause in part of conservation, right, you, you need to adopt and go back to the original plantings. And we have talked about, uh, how to integrate, uh, heritage from African-Americans who lived here and that were buried here. Uh, like what kind of plantings can we incorporate with our native plants here? And we have talked about that and I think it's something you'll see in the future here.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=590.0,44.6"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMelissa Lino: So for, I guess our last few questions we always ask people like for their backstory. So what got you interested in like creating your not-for-profit and like the whole volunteering like world, like what started your, especially, what else, what started your interest in general in just like, the natural world?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=44.6,58.6"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: Well, uh, my career, my whole career was in fashion. So I would travel all over the world. I was a buyer and so I would go to, I would say fourth world countries. And, um, I would, I would joke around that uh, I would chase wherever there's a labor is the cheapest, that's where you'd find me because Americans only want the cheapest. They don't want to pay for what things really cost. So my job was to go find where the cheapest labor is and make the stuff for American market, right? So I would see the environment being abused all over the world just to make product for U.S. You know, I would see rivers die from chemicals, uh, being dumped into it and dies. And you know, I've seen so much in, in tex- textiles and different things. So I think over time it just wears you down that there's gotta be something different, right?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=58.6,58.2"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: So, um, I think in 2006 I said, you know, no longer do I want to look into, uh, materials that's just taking up, uh, abusing the planet. There has to be another way. And so I started looking at sustainable, sustainable fibers. And in order for me to get into sustainable fibers, I wanted to understand what is all this about organic, natural and nature. So I went back to, uh, study horticulture and to understand that organic doesn't really...it means that the seed has to be from original seed, has to be natural and it's not GMO \n[00.genetically modified organism], you know? And so to understand, when you say product is sustainable, what makes it sustainable? So by learning these things, I got more involved and I created a not-for-profit that I wanted to, uh, for people to get involved and take care of the environment.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=58.2,58.8"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: But also, uh, part of my not-for-profit was to look into seniors and how to make them, uh, less housebound. Because once you get to a certain age, you want to be in the house and you don't want to come out, especially in apartments. So I thought if the not-for-profit can encourage people to come out and work in green spaces, uh, they have less dependency on medicine, government uses, you know, so they can be a little more independent. So it was more of a progressive idea of how to bring young people to care for their environment and how to bring seniors out also to, uh, care for themselves by being in green spaces. So it was sort of like a 360, like it started with an idea of a more sustainable product for U.S. And it turned out to be even bigger than I thought, you know?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=58.8,58.4"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMelissa Lino: Yeah. Big dream!\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=58.4,60.4"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: Yeah. So, thank you. You have any questions?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=60.4,64.4"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nKevin O'Leary: I do. I remember the first time we met you, you had something to say about, um, how difficult it was to budget things with, like you know, Parks' rules and everything and you had a story about like, money was lost at some point? Can you just go into that just quickly?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=64.4,22.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745/transcript/24150/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nMaureen Regan: So, you know, not-for-profits, they survive by depending on writing grants for money or people donating money for the not-for-profit. So I'm not very good at writing grants. Just not good. So, um, I got money from the local City Council, Peter Koo, and, uh, to, to look, to do projects in three local parks. This was one of them and Maple and Weeping Willow. There's -- all in Flushing. This, this space here, this burial ground, um, the grant was $12,000. And so Parks Department worked with me. Uh, their Horticulture Department worked with me in choosing the plants. So the money doesn't come to the not-for-profit. It goes to the Parks Department; it's allocated for use within the Parks Department budget. And so I have to spend my own money first and then that money gets reimbursed to me. So, um, the Parks Department chose all the plants, I recruited hundreds of volunteers, and we planted trees and all kinds of pollinator plants in here. And then you have to go through all these steps with, uh, the mayor's office. You have to take, uh, you got to go to workshops and paperwork. And, uh, I did all that. And then the Parks Department told me, well, I missed the deadline to get my money back. And they said, well, we can't do anything about it. The money was turned over to the general ledger of city money. I was like, but it's my money! I spent my money and it's been many years already and they wouldn't return the money to me. So it's like, you know, $12,000 is not chump change. It's one, sometimes it's a whole sal- a whole year's salary for someone, you know? And so you have to be careful, you know, when you're doing these grants and writing grants, you have to, um, make sure, like -- don't spend your own money, like, you know, get the money directly into your company or organization that you never know, uh, to fight, uh, town. What'd you call it? City hall. It's a problem because everything is so regimented. They can't say, well, yeah, the money was allocated. Let's move it back. Right? The project was done. How simple is that, right? But it's not that simple. It's like a lot of red tape. So, thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/39365/file/110745#t=22.0,1070.25067"}]}]}]}