Friends and family gather on Ashmun Street.
A Dixwell garden will now blossom pink in memory of 21-year-old Chardé Monet Spates, who dedicated her life to giving back to her community.
Spates’s life was celebrated by friends and family Saturday at a pink-infused garden memorial and dedication ceremony. Pink was Spates’ favorite color; the garden that now remains home to an angel monument was put together by Spates two years ago.
The New Havener and Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) student was killed in a car crash on Feb. 26.
Spates put together the community garden at the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program (CTVIP) site at 630 Ashmun St. in the hopes of helping to deter neighborhood violence and provide residents with fresh vegetables every year.
The group of loved ones gathered Saturday for a lunch then a reveal of the garden now dedicated to Spates.
A vanilla strawberry hydrangea tree was planted at the center of the garden with hopes that it will soon blossom pink and white flowers.
A plaque reading, “Planted in memory of Chardé Spates — thoughts of you forever bloom … rooted in love, always in our hearts,” was placed by Spates’ mother Charmel Moore at the ceremony.
In the near future an engraved bench will also be brought to the garden, donated by Howard K. Hill Funeral Services.
Executive Director of CTVIP Leonard Jahad recalled Spates starting at the program as a volunteer/intern in 2020 with passion, respect, and dedication.
Spates’ first task was providing Covid education and personal protective equipment (PPE) to the community, particularly youth.
In a week she had established a connection with city Health Director Martitza Bond and got access to PPE and educational materials for her community. With mentorship from Bond, Spates wrote several grants to receive ample PPE for the program to distribute to neighbors.
Then came her second task, creating the program’s community garden. Spates once again established community partners to provide her with garden beds, soil, and seedlings.
“I had no idea where she was getting it all, but I knew it was coming from her dedication to the community, so I asked no questions,” Jahad said.
Jahad put Spates on the payroll soon after. She returned each year to plant vegetables in the garden.
Chardé's mother, Charmel Moore.
Mom and daughter.
Moore was held up by the support of her close friends and family Saturday while still grieving the loss of her only child.
She described her daughter as beautiful, gentle, forgiving, and a calm spirit who loved everyone.
On Friday a posthumous degree for Spates was awarded to Moore for a bachelor’s in science with a major in public health.
The Saturday celebration was bittersweet, said Moore, who shed tears while thinking about “all the hard work [Chardé] did, and now she’s not here to accept her awards.”
Moore, who is a New Haven math teacher, said she didn’t get to walk the stage for her undergraduate graduation. She had been looking forward to seeing her daughter do it for them both.
Spates had a love for science and dreamed of becoming a nurse.
Moore connected her daughter with the volunteer opportunity at CTVIP at the start of the pandemic, knowing of her passion to help her community.
“You never know as a parent if your child listens to you, but she exceeded my dreams for her. She was so beautiful,” Moore said.
She thanked the crowd of family and friends who joined her Saturday. “So many people have become extended family to me, because they helped me to raise her,” she said.
Alexia, Moore, and Janaya.
Spates’ close friends Alexia and Janaya (pictured above with Moore) also described the Saturday celebration as bittersweet. “It feels like she should be here,” Janaya said.
The trio’s parents met in a kick-boxing class and coincidentally were all enrolled at Saint Ambrose Elementary School in Bridgeport.
Moore has called Alexia and Janaya her second daughters since they were 5 years old.
The friends stayed in contact throughout elementary, middle, and high school despite not always being at the same location during the day.
Alexia and Janaya recalled always laughing with Spates and “never having a dull moment.”
They were all headed in similar career directions: Janaya and Spates majored in public health, while Alexia majors in hygiene.
Alexia recalled her favorite memory with Spates as the first day they met in kindergarten. Alexia, the shy one of the trio, said she remembers Spates being the first one to come up to her and asking her to play.
Janaya recalled sleepovers with Spates that mostly involved staying up past their bedtimes and laughing all night.
Janaya said she was the goofy friend of the group, and Spates was the popular and outgoing friend.
“We all balanced each other out,” Alexia said.
Janaya also recalled going roller skating every weekend with Spates in elementary school.
Janaya spent her first year enrolled at the University of Connecticut, then transferred to Southern. It had been years since she reconnected with Spates until she took her first public health course at Southern, which was remote, and saw Spates’s face in a small Zoom box.
“We always found our way back to each other, and it was like we were never apart,” Alexia said.
Friends and family got their hands dirty Saturday adding pink flowers and collard greens to the garden built by Spates.
At the time of her death Spates was a barista at Starbucks and formerly an employee of Marrakech, Inc.
While also a full-time student, she worked as a peer mentor and residential advisor at Southern. She also volunteered often with New Haven Promise.
Len Jahad addresses Saturday gathering.
Maritza Bond and Moore reunited Saturday after last connecting while their children were enrolled at Davis Street Magnet School together.
In addition to providing local data about Covid to share with the community and PPE, Bond helped Spates spread scientific information about Covid in her classes at Southern.
“Chardé was a huge part of helping us tap into our local talents like youth to provide peer-to-peer education when things first started,” Bond said.
The Saturday celebration decorated CTVIP with photos of Spates and pink everything from balloons, flowers, desserts, and shirts printed with her picture.
CTVIP Program Coordinator Erika Blake mentored Spates while she worked at the program. She recalled working with Spates with creating community health kits and applying for grants from Yale and the Community Action Agency of New Haven.
Spates and Blake also connected over attending Southern and a desire to pledge for the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Blake described Spates as soft, caring, a bright personality, with an infectious smile.
“We always talked about how we were both focused first on work, school, then play,” she said.
Watch the garden dedication ceremony below.