Yves Doumen says he traveled 6,500 miles west, across the Atlantic Ocean from his home country of Cameroon, to settle in Springfield six years ago to promote sustainable agriculture.
"We have space here, but at the same time, where we have space is where people are struggling to find fresh, healthy food," Doumen told Illinois Times in an interview at the Motherland Gardens Community Project, 815 S. 15th St.
The site on Springfield's east side is where Doumen, 34, a Springfield resident and naturalized U.S. citizen, purchased vacant lots three years ago and will hold the grand opening of the nonprofit community garden from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 26.
There will be tours of the garden, a designated play area for youth and space for food vendors and other community organizations.
"The grand opening is the opportunity to say 'thank you' to the volunteer, 'thank you' to the community partner, and 'thank you' to the financial partner," he said.
The event also will provide an opportunity to "toast the reality of urban agriculture and innovative production," Doumen said. "We started here with nothing, and today we have this. We have this because we have a community behind us, because we have people who trust us and have decided to work with us."
Doumen said he earned a bachelor's degree in geography in Cameroon, a central West African country, after growing up in a working-class family there. He said he worked in Cameroon with farmers in rural communities to improve their production systems before coming to the United States "looking for more opportunity to explore the world."
He said he used the U.S. government's "diversity lottery" to immigrate to Springfield six years ago. He joined his sister, who he said came to the capital city the same way.
He started planning for the nonprofit Motherland Gardens Project while going through basic training for the Illinois Army National Guard at a U.S. Army base in South Carolina in 2020.
The name Motherland is a nod to what many Africans call their home continent, Doumen said. The name also "honors the land that feeds us," he said.
Doumen is a busy man who said he works hard and lives frugally. He and his wife have an 8-month-old daughter. In addition to being part of the Illinois Army National Guard, he works part time as a mentor coordinator for The Outlet, a Springfield nonprofit serving children and young adults.
Much of the rest of his time is spent at the garden. "This project is mostly a full-time job," he said.
Many residents of the east side can't afford or don't have easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and many don't know how to grow food in a backyard garden, Doumen said.
Cultivating those skills, building what he called "social capital," and making fresh food more accessible all are goals of the garden, which covers about one acre, he said.
Doumen said he has helped a small number of community residents and organizations grow produce in raised beds the past three years with about $40,000 in grants from community organizations that include Westminster Presbyterian Church, Bank of Springfield, the City of Springfield, Hospital Sisters Health System and Memorial Health.
He also chipped in money from his savings and is looking for more financial support and volunteers as he strives to fully develop the garden, which includes two beehives. To help sustain the project, he wants to add a community-supported agriculture (CSA) site there in 2024.
Area residents can reserve a raised bed at the garden for $10 or $20 per year, depending on the size of the bed.
There are 50 raised beds and 15 individuals from the South 15th Street neighborhoods and other neighborhoods currently taking part. He would like to double the number of participants and eventually expand the number of beds and related services.
Those who pay the modest fee have free access to instruction on gardening from a master gardener through the University of Illinois Extension office. Cooking classes are planned in the future.
Doumen said he has had positive feedback from the neighborhood so far but wants to get more people involved. The grand opening will allow him to "tell who we are, what we are doing and where we are going," he said.
The Rev. Christian Choi, associate pastor for parish life at Westminster Presbyterian, said the pastoral staff and the congregation's mission and community service committee decided to donate $1,000 to Doumen's project early on and soon will donate another $1,000.
Choi said, "We were sold and very much supportive of what he is doing. ... Everyone should have access to the necessities of life."
Doumen isn't a member of the congregation, but Choi said: "There's a portion of him that's very faith-oriented. He's naturally very compassionate. He's a fabulous person."
More information is available online at motherlandgardenscommunityproject.org, by emailing [email protected] or by calling 217-502-0718.
Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer at Illinois Times. He can be reached at [email protected], 217-679-7810 or twitter.com/DeanOlsenIT.
