Realizing a Sanctuary for All
By Zach Lykins, Trinity Community Commons Executive Director
8 min read This is a success story and progress report for Trinity Community Commons goals for placemaking the lawn in front of their building adjacent to Trinity Lane. The Design Center worked with them to support community engagement and ideation, but their team is the perfect example of implementation. Keep reading to learn more…
FOREWORD BY NIA SMITH, Community Design Coordinator
The importance of spaces like Trinity Community Commons is reiterated with every closure of a Nash-classic venue, restaurant, or secret spot. When we lose our third spaces, it feels like a hit to our identities. It’s special when we find third spaces that are rooted in community rather than private ventures.
Zach mentioned how important it is to start small and hold true to what it is you are aiming to accomplish. Suddenly, your favorite bar is closed; it’s a steakhouse, and you don’t recognize anyone eating inside. Those things didn’t happen suddenly. There is no instant gratification in construction or development. These are ideas and visions that were formed years ago.
What world are we aiming to build today? Trinity Community Commons knew that they had a problem with their space not being an inviting and walkable place, but they discovered the path to solving that problem through engaging with the community. Then they recruited people to help them carry out their project. They continue to engage and refine their plans with their community.
If we keep waiting for change, we will always be disappointed in the result. We should be creating spaces for all of us Nashvillians. And I mean all of us. Intentionally designing people out of the city will mean that we will make a space uncomfortable for everyone.
Last year, Trinity Community Commons asked the Civic Design Center to help us transform our big front lawn into a vital community gathering space for all our neighbors. Need to catch up? Read the first blog post.
After lots of interviewing, listening, and dreaming together with neighbors, we started building. The positive impact after just a few small improvements have been much greater than I could have imagined. Here’s an update about what we’ve built, what’s next, and lessons we’ve learned about how to transform empty space into vibrant community space.
What we’ve built so far
This spring, we gathered neighbors to build picnic tables for meals & events, raised garden beds to grow our own food for meals & sharing, trash and compost bays, a veggie trellis, a perennial kitchen herb garden, and a fence to separate gathering space from Trinity & Meridian car traffic.
Right away, people noticed & have been super grateful! We have always welcomed people inside our doors for meals, markets and other events, but by creating a more intentional gathering place outside where neighbors could see, the community feels more welcoming than ever before.
My highlight? The raised garden beds right in the middle of the lawn. A bunch of different neighbors and organizations have contributed veggie and flower starts to these community beds. Before & during our Tuesday night dinners, we get neighbors involved in harvesting & preparing dishes together. Kids have loved this more than anyone, and we have a phenomenal neighbor leading others in a lot of hands-on teaching & planting each week.
Building the fence has, paradoxically, made our space much more welcoming. We opted for a low 3 rail fence with a lot of pedestrian openings to welcome neighbors in while keeping cars out. Parents now feel safe letting their kids run around during community meals & markets!
Designated trash & compost bays have kept our space cleaner. Some folks still litter, but those designated spots make it easier for neighbors to help keep their community space clean.
When we’re not hosting events, the tables, fence, & garden beds invite neighbors to sit, find rest in the shade, and enjoy the flowers & veggies we have growing. They also give neighbors something useful, fun, and interesting to do with others - watering, pruning, & harvesting all contribute towards community dinners.
What we’re building next
We’re not done yet! We’re planning to gather neighbors to build another round of community assets:
Market stands for our Thursday afternoon farmers markets
Veggie washing station to speed up harvesting & meal prep
Shade sails or structures. Most of the lawn is still full sun
Arched arbor entryways to welcome neighbors into the commons
Bike rack
More tables & benches (we’re still bringing out more seating for meals!)
Planting more trees & perennial flowers & fruit
An idea for future updates
In mid-late June, we’re asking neighbors to to help us continue to Build & Grow together. Donations will support these building projects + programming for more great community events and we’ll continue to build as much of this as we can with our neighbors. Working on shared community projects has been such a fun way to share & appreciate the different gifts & skills within our neighborhood.
Other requests we’ve heard from neighbors or hope to build in the future:
A covered pavilion for music, performances, refuge from the heat & rain, and more
A play area for kids
A little library
Outdoor or 24/7 accessible bathrooms for our neighbors who are unhoused
Housing - continues to be one of the biggest needs we hear from our neighbors!
Lessons Learned
Each time we asked neighbors what they wanted & needed in the community, we heard a ton of great ideas, but I knew there’d be no way to build them all. The learning really started once we built the first thing & watched how neighbors interacted with it. Here are a few of the things we’ve learned after building the first phase of community assets.
Start small
At first I was afraid that building small things like tables & garden beds just wouldn’t matter to folks. The needs we hear are so big - neighbors said they want less crime, less drugs, more housing, more safe spaces, more connection with neighbors. I was honestly worried we’d just get laughed at for building a few picnic tables, but I quickly learned the opposite was true - people were super grateful when we started adding all these things outside, and people used and gravitated towards them right away.
Advice to others: don’t worry about starting or doing things that feel small. Improvements matter, especially in public or community spaces, which often get neglected.
1) Do something, 2) learn, 3) adjust, 4) do the next thing
Even after asking all the right questions, we probably would have planned and gotten things wrong if we’d done it all at once - wrong place for tables, wrong place for plants, wrong fence line, etc. Building in small steps allowed us to see how people interacted with each new thing, move or adjust that thing, then build the next piece with more confidence. This approach worked well for us in the garden, and it works well in progressively creating community spaces with and for neighbors.
Worry less about what others will think
It took me so long to start building mostly because I was afraid of the criticism I might hear: did that wrong, could have done that better, why are you wasting your time with that, etc. I definitely heard some of this, and some of it’s valid - I realized a few things we could have built better along the way, too. But overall we’ve heard & seen so much more positive after all this. My advice to my past self - stop hesitating and just build some great stuff with neighbors. Neighbors will appreciate it, you’ll learn along the way, and you can always learn from critical feedback.
Don’t listen to bad advice
We want to hear & respond to what our neighbors need. But we also hear a lot of bad advice from neighbors, specifically with regard to our neighbors who are unhoused. I heard this same message from a variety of different people: that we should find a way to get rid of our unhoused neighbors, and that nothing commercial or successful could happen on our property until they were gone. Sadly, this might be true for some businesses - it might really dissuade folks from visiting a store if homeless people are sitting outside.
But Trinity Community has a very specific mission - we want to give a big warm welcome to all people, because we want to see a truly unified community that includes everyone, especially our neighbors who are marginalized, poor, and unhoused. These neighbors are most likely to be discriminated against by our economic system, the most likely to find it difficult to afford the basics & to find social support from their neighbors. So when it comes to designing and building a community space, we wanted to ensure that we built things that welcomed all people and fostered safety - and those two things don’t have to be at odds.
Building A Network
Our goal is not to grow Trinity to be the biggest community gathering space that attracts people from all over town. Quite the opposite - we just want to be the best community hub for our neighbors, and we hope each neighborhood builds vibrant community gathering spaces that reflect their unique gifts and needs.
This idea from the last blog post, regarding our project stuck with me:
“...Inter-connectivity between hyperlocal spaces provides additional support and an opportunity to share resources with those who need it. Local businesses, nonprofits and even other churches can work together to build a network of sanctuary for all.”
I love this idea of organically developing networks of support, sanctuary, and community with nearby partners. We certainly can’t build & do all the ideas we’ve heard from neighbors - but we don’t have to! Our property isn’t isolated, and we don’t need to be self-sufficient. We’re embedded in a neighborhood with incredible people and fantastic destinations. The addition of the Trinity crosstown route makes getting around East just a little bit easier. And as we slow down cars, walking and biking will get safer and easier.
We’re part of a whole, and we love that we get to play an important role in this community.
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Volunteer to Build with us - send me an email at zach@trinitycommunitycommons.org. We welcome all skill levels! Building with a group is a great way to learn & meet neighbors, so whether you have 30 years of experience or you’ve never picked up a drill, come build with your neighbors!
Donate to Trinity Community Commons. We were raising $10,000 from June 13 - 25 to continue building, growing, and hosting events that restore connection & belonging among neighbors here in East Nashville. We genuinely welcome & include all people as equals, as peers, and as co-contributors in building a beautiful community together.
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We couldn’t do any of this without our neighbors! So many people contribute to make the community at Trinity a welcoming place for all. Here are the neighbors & friends who have helped us in this first phase of rebuilding community together:
Growers
Lara Mossler (permaculture analysis + perennial herb garden)
Abbi Tapia & Tennessee Kitchen Gardens (veggie & herb starts)
Nia Smith (sunflowers)
KJ Garner (perennial flowers)
Brent Burns (perennial flowers)
Sara Shaw (cardboard & seeds)
Judy Scoville of Nature Explorers (raspberry plants)
Daniel McDonell (plum tree)
Steve & Marcie Bryant (perennial herbs)
Mike (planting perennials & berry bushes)
Brooklyn Heights Community Garden (veggie & herb starts)
Builders
Bradley Bruce
Lynzie Skjervheim
David Brassfield
Howard Hale
Stephen Watts
Tyler Evans
Emily Wertheim / Daybreak Arts for trellis wood
K&C Fence Co.
Helen Wiley
Gardens of Babylon (pallet wood for the win!)
All-Stars
Susannah Sutherland & Jeremy Vanover (for being our community garden captain, for plants, and for building garden beds with us)
Kyle Nuemann (for volunteering at 100% of our community builds!)
Nia Smith & Civic Design Center (for inspiring & encouraging all this from the start!)