New gardens encourage community spirit

          West Side Community Services is planning to develop a community garden in its own backyard this summer.

Located at 161 Vermont St., the organization is looking for volunteers to help work in the gardens in order to begin growing.
          Executive Director Sandra M. Sheppard said the idea of the gardens was brought up by former board members.
          “The goal of the gardens is to create interest in planting, provide kids with the opportunity to learn about healthy foods and to learn how to grow and eat food,”  Sheppard said.
          This garden will consist of various small gardens and a three sisters garden. Three sisters gardening is a method that uses an intercropping system to grow corn, beans and squash crops simultaneously in the same growing area.The corn grows first, followed by the beans, which grow up the corn. The squash grows last, serving as the foundation to the garden. By Amber Rinard and Dallas Taylor

Power Yoga Buffalo takes it to the air

Yoga athlete Stephanie Zylinski of Power Yoga Buffalo takes practice off the ground and into the air using silk bindings at Buffalo Aerial Dance Studio. Every month yoga athletes from Power Buffalo Yoga,  758 Elmwood Ave., experiment with unique ways to perform. In the summer they can be seen  practicing on wakeboards in the water or posing in the snow during the winter. Power Buffalo Yoga is in the midst of  40 Days to Personal Revolution where participants  focus on meditation and tranquility. According to Zylinski, yoga is a way to focus on balancing physical and mental health. By Jessica Miranda and Ashley Stobnicki

West Side Bazaar prepares for Women’s Day

Vendor Nadeen Yousef hopes to contribute to the West Side Bazaar’s International Women’s Day celebration from 1-4 p.m. on March 7 by informing participants about macramé, an Arabic weaving technique used to make art and goods.  During the celebration, attendees will be able to participate in workshops that focus on business, innovation and the arts at the bazaar, 25 Grant St. By Odion Ejemai and Katherine Middleton

Worker Center aims to put refugees in jobs

Liz Smith and her colleagues at the Western New York Worker Center hope that their program is the first of many programs to come. The Worker Center sponsored the first leadership and workers rights training session Feb. 19 and Feb. 21 for refugees at Our Lady of Hope Church on Lafayette Avenue. Graduates of the program are part of a growing immigrant population that is reshaping the economic and cultural landscape of the West Side. By Ryan Esguerra and Nicholas Malahosky