In May 2014, Daily Acts partnered with the City of Petaluma to host a Community Resilience Challenge event with the students of Loma Vista Immersion Academy. The challenge was to take an abandoned well lot adjacent to the school and transform it into a water-wise demonstration garden through the process of sheet mulching and the installation of drought-tolerant, pollinator plants.
Led by Daily Acts staff, students were divided into planting teams, with the entire school participating in making this water-wise garden dream a thriving reality. All told, approximately 175 students, teachers, and volunteers were educated about local drought issues and the importance of having a water-wise landscape, while installing 70 plants and creating positive, lasting change in their community. What was once a largely under-utilized weedy lot in a residential east Petaluma neighborhood, is now a flourishing garden, fed by rainwater from the roof of the well shed, and enjoyed as an outdoor classroom by the Loma Vista students.
