Mission Hills Garden Walk returns
Returning to tradition, the 2021 Mission Hills Garden Walk, themed “Where Flowers Bloom, so does Hope,” will again be held on the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend, May 8. The theme, incorporating a phrase attributed to Lady Bird Johnson, is fitting to the beginning of emergence from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as trees and plants are beginning to blossom, so too the community is feeling more hopeful.
Five of the nine gardens included in this year’s walk have never been included in a garden walk. Several favorites from past years have been significantly updated, offering surprises and ideas for novice and experienced gardeners. While two of the gardens are on clearly visible large lots, others’ expanses are hidden from street view. Visitors will enjoy intimate spaces and unique plant specimens in all the gardens. Knowing that many school youth have been learning at home, this year’s Garden Walk will include a scavenger hunt with a prize for all youth finding the treasures in the gardens.
Admission is free for children 10 and under, however strollers are not allowed in the gardens. The Garden Walk is designed to be a leisurely two-mile stroll through Mission Hills, known for its variety of home and garden styles. To assure safety again this year, participants will select a time slot for starting the walk, with a limited number of individuals in any one garden at a time. Guests should plan to wear face masks and use social distancing.
Participants will pick up their map at Mission Hills Nursery, 1525 Fort Stockton Dr., on the day of the walk at their selected start time. Tickets should be purchased in advance ($30) at missionhillsgardenclub.org. There is no guarantee tickets will be available the day of the walk.
Proceeds from the annual Garden Walk support community improvement projects including the Gecko Garden at Grant Elementary School, restoration of Allen Canyon, plantings at Pioneer Park and Presidio Park, as well as scholarships to students studying agriculture and related fields.
Para más información visite www.missionhillsgardenclub.org.
Black churches expand free COVID-19 testing
Ahead of Easter Sunday and returning into indoor worship, the statewide Black Church COVID-19 Testing Partnership is expanding into San Diego. With support from the San Diego County Department of Public Health, this partnership with the Tabernacle Community Development Corporation and the African American Community Empowerment Council adds churches across San Diego to the more than 30 church test sites statewide. Testing is free through June 30 and available to the community regardless of health insurance status.
Para más información visite www.aacec-cal.org.
The New Children’s Museum becomes the first of San Diego’s museums to unionize
The New Children’s Museum workers and management ratified a collective bargaining agreement last week, making the museum the first of San Diego’s 45 museums to unionize. The agreement governs wages, benefits and worker protections, and comes after more than a year of negotiations amid the challenges of the pandemic. It covers the workers who serve museum guests, execute programming and play, implement health and safety measures and make connections with the children and families who come through the museum’s doors each day. Both museum management and staff praised the agreement’s enhanced benefits and increased wages as well as its inclusion of protections for laid off and furloughed workers.
“This contract demonstrates the power of union workers at the bargaining table. Our members were able to negotiate immediate increases in pay, along with annual pay raises, sustained health care, and opportunities for more input on the job,” said Nate Fairman, business manager for IBEW Local 465, which represents The New Children’s Museum staff. “Workers are the heart of the museum and deserve the respect that a fair contract brings.”
“The museum’s largest annual investment is in our people. Our employees are creative and diligent and care deeply about our mission,” said Museum Interim Executive Director/COO Reed Vickerman. “We are proud to invest in our employees and acknowledge their contributions to the Museum and San Diego’s children.”
San Diego among top targets for commercial real estate investment in 2021
A survey of commercial real estate investors ranked San Diego as a top 20 target among America’s metros. San Diego jumped three spots from No. 20 to No. 17 in CBRE’s 2021 Americas Investor Intentions Survey.
“Record venture capital investments in San Diego’s life sciences and technology sectors are driving job growth to an already thriving ecosystem in a supply constrained market,” said Natalie Dahl, San Diego region managing director of CBRE.
“Strong economic fundamentals driving rent growth are the number one factor for market preference in 2021,” said Chris Ludeman, global president of capital markets for CBRE. “The metros most favored by investors this year were buoyed by proven labor market resilience during the pandemic and a steady growth outlook. Remote working has also boosted labor migration to relatively low-cost markets with well-developed suburbs.”
Mama’s Kitchen delivers 10 millionth meal
Alongside Mayor Todd Gloria, Mama’s Kitchen delivered its 10 millionth meal on Wednesday, March 31 to home in Skyline Hills.
Mama’s Kitchen is a local nonprofit meal delivery service dedicated to individuals and families vulnerable to malnutrition due to critical illness, including HIV, cancer, congestive heart failure, Type II diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
When the pandemic first struck a year ago, Mama’s Kitchen saw a significant increase in demand for its home-delivered nutrition services. As of today, Mama’s Kitchen currently home-delivers more than 11,000 medically tailored meals a week, all throughout San Diego County to keep its clients safe, healthy and at home. Due to the increase in demand, Mama’s Kitchen reached its 10 millionth meal milestone sooner than anticipated. The organization commemorated its nine millionth meal delivery in 2019.
For over three decades, Mama’s Kitchen has prepared and delivered nutritious meals to local individuals in need. The organization started as a volunteer response to the AIDS epidemic, and now delivers three medically-tailored nutritious meals a day, seven days a week, free of charge to local individuals and families in need.
