Meet Your Roosevelt Island Neighbor Melrose Barnes, Coler Resident With A Green Thumb And Sly Smile Reaches Out To Local Gardening Community - Update From Friends Of Coler Volunteers Too

As previously reported:

Friends of Coler is an informal group of neighbors and supporters who have teamed up with the Angelica Patient Assistance Program to support Roosevelt Island’s Coler Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center residents and staff during this Covid crisis....

Julia Feguson is a Friends Of Coler Volunteer and introduces us to our Roosevelt Island neighbor, Mr Melrose Barnes, who is a resident at Coler. According to Ms Ferguson:

Quiet and observant, Mr. Melrose Barnes

Image From Olya Turcihin

can be credited as one of our Coler neighbors who reaches out to others. Mr. Barnes began dropping by the Roosevelt Island Community Garden  (RIGC) for compost for his plantings inside Coler at least 8 years ago. Mr Barnes is patient with a lively manner and enjoys his solitude, but he also has a sharp eye for detail and is usually ready with a sly smile to share a story. He will tell you about a plant he has seen

or some delicious food he knows well.   

In late 2017, Barnes got to talking with some garden friends and connected several Roosevelt Island Gardening groups (RIGC, iDig2Learn, and Green Roosevelt Island Neighbors)

                                                                 Image From Olya Turcihin

with two of Coler's Recreational Therapists. These connections first led to two smaller upgrade projects by RIGC in corner areas of the courtyard.  

Then, most importantly his connections brought an amazing restoration of the entire Magnolia Courtyard in June 2018. Thanks to a community grant from CCNYC, iDig2learn gathered a coalition of Roosevelt Island volunteers joined by 130 Google employees 

                                                                                     Image From Olya Turcihin

on the grounds of NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler. They restored the whole area, one of Coler's most substantial green spaces.

                                                                                       Image From Olya Turcihin

When COVID 19 hit our local world in March, Mr. Melrose Barnes successfully survived quarantine/lockdown days by reading National Geographic and other magazines in the Coler library. Once it was possible to go outside again,

Mr. Barnes began working and gardening in the courtyard, Roosevelt Island friends sent him in seeds, young plants, and soil amendments. He took over from there. Mr Barnes's garden work since June has produced lettuce, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, zinnias, lots of basil, lavender, mint, and other herbs and flowers. Sunflowers are one of his favorites and he is now planting fall crops like radishes and kale.

Mr. Barnes is one of our neighbors and friends at Coler whom we have missed seeing about during these past six months. Before confinement he was often outside with us at events like Fall for Arts, Pumpkin Smash, July 4th Fireworks, and a few more. Or we would run into him when he was enjoying river views and the breeze with the rest of us on sunny spring and autumn days.

We may not be able to visit or see his garden in person as we all wait for a vaccine or other new developments to protect each other from this virus. But if you pause and breathe deeply as you walk south from the lighthouse on the Manhattan side of our island, you can definitely feel the peace and green growth that is happening in this corner of the courtyard.

Ms Ferguson shares this update from the Friends Of Coler

It's been two months since our last update and there is positive news to share. 

1) The Voices of Coler Petition for Survival helped to turn communications around in a new direction! Concerned residents were to meet more than once with both Dr. Hughes and Dr. Katz and other administrators in the H & H Hospital system. Coler residents helped to develop an initial plan to allow families to visit patients and residents to be able request some scheduled time outside the hospital near the river. 

2) The new Coler Task Force is meeting monthly and working steadily to address the concerns raised last spring and early summer. This Task Force includes residents of Coler, representatives from elected officials' offices, and RI neighborhood advocates who are all collaborating to help facilitate important actions to improve health practices ongoing and to reinvigorate patient/family communications. One example of Task Force connections was a September meeting between H & H administrators, Cornell Tech faculty and representatives, and Coler residents to promote movement forward on Coler wifi improvements, technology options to assist health practices, and resident access to online learning and wellness projects. 

3) Partner organizations, Angelica Patient Assistance Program and others, have been working since last summer with Coler's Rec Therapy department to donate shade sails to help improve/extend residents' use of the central outdoor space in the Magnolia Courtyard. 

4) OpenDoors NYC members actively continue their poetry, art, and outreach. They are currently working on a documentary film that addresses the serious challenges as well as the solidarity and strength developed during this intense period of a global pandemic experienced locally. 

Action Requests: Join the friends of Coler core team. We connect people and groups who care and send out updates to share good news, news of grave concerns, or action requests. Currently a group of 3-5 persons, we are looking for a couple more volunteers to help out. Please email friendsofcoler@gmail.com anytime with your interest. 

Watch for upcoming news this week about a virtual event in October to help OpenDoors NYC fund their documentary.

 Last spring we imagined that by September we would be seeing our Coler friends back with us "in 3D" by the river, in our churches, gardens, and grocery stores, and at RI events like Fall for Arts. Unfortunately this is not yet the case and we are all learning together that the COVID19 response is more of a marathon than a sprint. We are so very grateful for your caring presence for Coler residents and staff on this journey.