On Saturday, July 25, 2026, under the guidance of our very own Anya Ustin, daughter of Pauline Terebuh, and Anya’s colleague, Alena Glenn, a dedicated group of people created a rain garden on the west side of our UUCC building.The group included several people from Doan Brook Watershed Partnership, Anya and Alena’s friends, a couple of UU congregants, and one of Shaker’s City Councillors, Nancy Moore.
The rain garden was provided to us through a grant called “Brook and Bloom.” This program paid a group of high school students to take a Master Rain Gardener course and then design and install rain gardens in the community. Dell Salza saw the ad for this program and thought some of our young people might be interested. Anya followed up, joined the program, and is now a certified Master Rain Gardener. She and Alena determined the best spot for the rain garden and the optimal design, which includes a chalice! They also determined what plants would best thrive there. The program coordinator, Alex Kirchner, worked with Victor to redirect the closest downspout so that water from the roof of the building will drain into the rain gardener and seep slowly into underground aquifers. The goal is to keep stormwater from running over the surface of the lawn into the street, overwhelming the sewer system, and dumping toxins into Lake Erie. This problem is currently being made worse by the increasing severity of storms due to climate change.
Nancy Moore, our stalwart environmentally active City Councillor, spent several hours digging with us in the cement-like soil to create the ground indentation needed for the rain forest – extremely difficult physical work! She also volunteers with the Doan Brook Watershed Partnership, and she expressed approval of UUCC for being the only site in Shaker Heights that took advantage of this opportunity to have a rain garden installed at no cost. The Ministry for Earth continues to build our reputation in the community as an institution dedicated to being responsible stewards of the land and building in our care.
