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By John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 09:28 p.m. EDT, Jun 28, 2009
Early Sunday morning, Holly Pirsig arrived at the ACCESS homeless shelter for women and children on West Market Street and started clearing weeds from along the back fence near the playground.
It was ''Mitzvah Day'' in Akron and she was one of more than 100 volunteers from two Jewish temples and three Christian churches doing a Mitzvah (Hebrew for ''good deed'').
Pirsig's mitzvah was to design a children's garden along the back fence next to the shelter's playground and, with other volunteers, plant it.
She discovered a mural painted on the back fence with a bright blue sky, green grass with lots of tiny green hand prints, a big red tulip and other flowers, and the words ''love'' and ''laugh'' spelled out in bright letters.
The mural, which had been painted last summer by volunteers from Archbishop Hoban High School, was the perfect backdrop for her children's garden, but Pirsig hadn't even known it was there.
''You couldn't see this when I first got here,'' said Pirsig, a professional gardener who lives in Akron's Highland Square area. ''It was all overgrown. It was all covered with vines and stuff, so I cut it all back.''
Once the weeds were pulled, the volunteers placed small steppingstones and planted kid-friendly, nontoxic plants such as lavender, sedum, grasses and hostas.
They also cleared an area in a shady corner of the garden where mothers could sit at a picnic table and keep an eye on their children, said Pirsig, who attends the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron, one of the participating congregations in Mitzvah Day.
One girl staying at the shelter was at Pirsig's side helping out first thing in the morning. Pirsig had hoped that would happen, because it would give the children more ownership of the garden if they had a hand in creating it.
The shelter provides 30-day emergency housing for homeless single women and women with children.
''I'm really excited about the garden back here,'' said Andie Schoofs, the shelter's volunteer coordinator.
She said many of the women who stay there enjoy gardening.
''It's a good release, so I think if we make that available to them, they'll definitely maintain it,'' Schoofs said.
Elicia Prior-Schwartz, who wrestled with weeds in another part of the shelter property with her husband, Michael, said she could relate to the women who need to stay there.
She once stayed in a shelter for teenage girls.
''I know that there's been time in my life, especially when I was a teenager and stuff, when I was more down and out,'' Prior-Schwartz said. ''Once you get on your feet, then you can give back.''
She and her husband live in Canton and attend the Unitarian Universalist Church in Akron.
Another church member also felt a connection because she spent part of her childhood in foster homes before her aunt adopted her.
''We need places like this as buffers for families, to give them some space so they can get their lives together,'' said Jilinda Richer of Bath Township.
Jewish congregations have observed Mitzvah Day for several years.
In 2003, Temple Israel in Akron invited churches to join in the day of good deeds.
This year, volunteers worked on 11 projects throughout Akron at shelters, food pantries and the Gorge Metro Park.
Congregations from Temple Israel, Beth El, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Bath Community Church and Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron participated in the projects, which included gardening, yard work and painting.
Other volunteers baked cookies for the Ronald McDonald House and sewed fleece blankets for Project Linus, which provides brightly colored covers to seriously ill hospital patients.
''Basically, everybody tries to pitch in as much as we can,'' said Howard Friedman of Temple Israel, who helped organize Mitzvah Day. ''Every report I'm hearing is that all the projects have done well.''
Each project had a team leader who coordinated the volunteers at that site.
The ACCESS team leader was Susan Davis of the Unitarian Universalist Church.
About a dozen volunteers worked on the garden at the main shelter. Another nine painted bedrooms at the organization's transitional housing for single women.
''I've done this several times,'' Davis said. ''It's always a pleasure.''
John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com.
Early Sunday morning, Holly Pirsig arrived at the ACCESS homeless shelter for women and children on West Market Street and started clearing weeds from along the back fence near the playground.
It was ''Mitzvah Day'' in Akron and she was one of more than 100 volunteers from two Jewish temples and three Christian churches doing a Mitzvah (Hebrew for ''good deed'').
Pirsig's mitzvah was to design a children's garden along the back fence next to the shelter's playground and, with other volunteers, plant it.
She discovered a mural painted on the back fence with a bright blue sky, green grass with lots of tiny green hand prints, a big red tulip and other flowers, and the words ''love'' and ''laugh'' spelled out in bright letters.
The mural, which had been painted last summer by volunteers from Archbishop Hoban High School, was the perfect backdrop for her children's garden, but Pirsig hadn't even known it was there.
''You couldn't see this when I first got here,'' said Pirsig, a professional gardener who lives in Akron's Highland Square area. ''It was all overgrown. It was all covered with vines and stuff, so I cut it all back.''
Once the weeds were pulled, the volunteers placed small steppingstones and planted kid-friendly, nontoxic plants such as lavender, sedum, grasses and hostas.
They also cleared an area in a shady corner of the garden where mothers could sit at a picnic table and keep an eye on their children, said Pirsig, who attends the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron, one of the participating congregations in Mitzvah Day.
One girl staying at the shelter was at Pirsig's side helping out first thing in the morning. Pirsig had hoped that would happen, because it would give the children more ownership of the garden if they had a hand in creating it.
The shelter provides 30-day emergency housing for homeless single women and women with children.
''I'm really excited about the garden back here,'' said Andie Schoofs, the shelter's volunteer coordinator.
She said many of the women who stay there enjoy gardening.
''It's a good release, so I think if we make that available to them, they'll definitely maintain it,'' Schoofs said.
Elicia Prior-Schwartz, who wrestled with weeds in another part of the shelter property with her husband, Michael, said she could relate to the women who need to stay there.
She once stayed in a shelter for teenage girls.
''I know that there's been time in my life, especially when I was a teenager and stuff, when I was more down and out,'' Prior-Schwartz said. ''Once you get on your feet, then you can give back.''
She and her husband live in Canton and attend the Unitarian Universalist Church in Akron.
Another church member also felt a connection because she spent part of her childhood in foster homes before her aunt adopted her.
''We need places like this as buffers for families, to give them some space so they can get their lives together,'' said Jilinda Richer of Bath Township.
Jewish congregations have observed Mitzvah Day for several years.
In 2003, Temple Israel in Akron invited churches to join in the day of good deeds.
This year, volunteers worked on 11 projects throughout Akron at shelters, food pantries and the Gorge Metro Park.
Congregations from Temple Israel, Beth El, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Bath Community Church and Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron participated in the projects, which included gardening, yard work and painting.
Other volunteers baked cookies for the Ronald McDonald House and sewed fleece blankets for Project Linus, which provides brightly colored covers to seriously ill hospital patients.
''Basically, everybody tries to pitch in as much as we can,'' said Howard Friedman of Temple Israel, who helped organize Mitzvah Day. ''Every report I'm hearing is that all the projects have done well.''
Each project had a team leader who coordinated the volunteers at that site.
The ACCESS team leader was Susan Davis of the Unitarian Universalist Church.
About a dozen volunteers worked on the garden at the main shelter. Another nine painted bedrooms at the organization's transitional housing for single women.
''I've done this several times,'' Davis said. ''It's always a pleasure.''
John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com.
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