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Update: Wylde Center and COVID-19

WYlde Center & COVID-19 (1)

Update #1: March 13, 2020

Dear Wylde Center friends,

To address the spread of COVID-19, Wylde Center enacted policies to help maintain the health and safety of our staff and community. Like you, we are closely monitoring the updates from the CDC, and we have made the following adjustments to our programs:

  • We are following the lead of our school partners and canceling all school-based programs until our school partners are ready to re-engage.

  • Our public programs are postponed until further notice. Our Spring Plant Sale Festival is postponed until the fall. Stay tuned for updates regarding Beer Garden in June.

  • Our volunteer engagements are postponed indefinitely.

  • We will continue to have plants for sale at Oakhurst Garden. While the office is closed, please pay by check or cash through the door or via the PayPal link posted on the porch.  Please contact emily@wyldecenter.org with any questions. Hand sanitizer is there for public use.

  • Plants are now available for sale online. Visit this link for more information.
  • Our greenspaces remain open to the community dawn to dusk, but we ask that you follow recommended protocols regarding social distancing and that you remain home if you are feeling ill.

  • Our offices will be closed until further notice.  Staff will be working from home, except to care for our living things (i.e. Cardoon the cat, the greenhouse and limited greenspace work).  Please check the website for staff contact information.

We'll provide further updates as things evolve. In the meantime, thank you for doing your part to ensure the safety and well-being of those around you! We hope that everyone stays healthy and is able to enjoy this beautiful spring, despite the disruptions to our schedules.

With warm regards and gratitude for our community,

The Wylde Center Team


Update #2: March 30, 2020

Wylde Center Supporters and Friends,

During these swiftly changing times, we want you to know that Wylde Center is working hard and pivoting fast to protect the health, sustainability and resiliency of our community. We have spent the past few weeks leveraging our skills and creativity to uplift our neighbors and find new ways to keep educating and connecting our kids and our community to nature.

"Distance Learning"? We've got you. This is an unprecedented time to be a parent or a teacher. Wylde Center’s Education Team is working around the clock to create new resources to bring outdoor experiential education into your home and virtual classrooms, including:

  • Virtual field trips rolling out soon to CSD and APS school partners.
  • Regular releases of lessons on social media to help engage children at home.
  • Wylde Grab n' Go Kids Corner at the Oakhurst Plant Sale with take away activities
  • Lunch and Learns are now online and offered each week on gardening and sustainability topics geared toward older students and adults.

Feeling boxed-in? Our greenspaces are open. Following the lead of city parks, Wylde Center greenspaces remain open for enjoyment of the community. Getting outside is a great choice for your mental and physical health well-being, and we encourage you to take a walk and explore nature all around you (while staying at least 6 feet from your fellow man of course).

Ready to grow your own? Plant Sale is still on. Nothing says sustainable like fresh veggies, herbs, and beautiful flowers grown right at home, and we’re here to get you started. Our famous Plant Sale festival will have to wait until fall, but as an approved essential business Wylde Center plant sale remains open, unmanned and "touchless" out front of Oakhurst Garden. Stop by, clean your hands, pick up some plants and pay via our paypal link (payments@wyldecenter.org).

  • Online ordering launched 3/30! Learn more here.

Hungry? Not on our watch. Wylde Center is leveraging our farms to provide food to communities most in need. We have been furiously planting our Edgewood and Oakhurst Farmlets with as much food as we can (and with substantial help from our new Farm apprentices, two of whom are on furlough from their restaurant jobs) to donate to those experiencing food-insecurity. We are making weekly drops of free, fresh produce to the Decatur Housing Authority, and are planting the gardens at Oakview Walk and Amani Place, affordable housing communities in Decatur and Atlanta.

What hasn't changed? We still need you.

We want you to know how much we appreciate all of your support and generosity during this time. Although we are physically apart, we are in this together. If you are able, here’s how you can help: 
We can’t wait to grow alongside you again! Until then, virtual hugs and high-fives from the Wylde Center team!

Update #3: June 11, 2010

As businesses and workplaces begin to reopen, Wylde Center is continuing to assess the situation and act accordingly. Please see the following updates:

  • Plant Sale: Our online plant sale has officially closed for the season however, our in-person plant sale will remain open on the front lawn of Oakhurst Garden. Online pre-orders placed this week (6/06-6/10) will be available for pick-up or delivery the week of June 15. A Wylde Center team member will be in touch with more details. Please practice social distancing when shopping at our in-person plant sale. Customers are invited to pay by check or cash through the mail slot on the door or via the PayPal link posted on the porch.
  • Wylde Nature Camp: For the safety of our staff, campers, and community, we made the difficult decision to cancel our in-person summer camp operations in June. We encourage you to learn more about our virtual programs for kids below!
  • Virtual Educational Programs: While we canceled our summer camps in June, we continue to offer virtual programs online for children and adults with our Virtual Summer Series for Kids and Lunch & Learn webinars. Learn more by visiting our new online e-commerce site.
  • Greenspaces: Our greenspaces remain open from sunrise to sunset.
  • Farm: Come visit us on Saturday's this season at the Oakhurst Farmer's Market! We will be selling fresh farm produce harvested from Wylde Center greenspaces.

From the Wylde Center team, thank you for all of your support and generosity this season. We will continue to communicate updates as they come. For the most up to date Wylde Center news and announcements, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Stay safe out there!