Gardens With Message for Youth Will Get Bishop’s Blessing

On Tuesday, Roman Catholic Bishop of Orange Tod Brown will bless the gardens at Taller San Jose, an education and job-training center for at-risk Latino youth in Santa Ana. The Sisters of St. Joseph, who opened the center four years ago, hope to “grow” peace and hope in the hearts of young people through the life cycles presented in the gardens.

The gardens are the final touch in three years of renovations at the center. Phil Selleck, the former head groundskeeper of the Ritz-Carlton Dana Point, planned and supervised construction of the garden. It features a whimsical atmosphere with seasonal plants and garden animals. A stately granite statue of St. Francis of Assisi stands in the center, dedicated to peace in the streets of the city.

But the chief theme of the garden is hope, said Sister Eileen McNerney, executive director of the program. The cycles of life within the garden serve as a metaphor for the students who struggle to live a productive life for themselves and their families, she said.

Three hundred students ages 18 to 25 attend the center. At the end of Tuesday’s ceremony, each will plant a seed signifying hope for their own lives.

The center also is home to St. Joseph’s Woodshop, an entrepreneurial venture of Taller San Jose that trains and employs students to create handcrafted garden furniture. Students design and construct mission-style designs in pine, oak, walnut, maple and teak.

The blessing will begin at 10 a.m. at the gardens, which are directly across the street from the old Orange County Courthouse at the corner of Broadway and Civic Center Drive.