At the heart of Andes, a familiar white house and its surrounding land are being given new life – not as a private estate, but as a place that belongs to everyone.
The Ballantine Manor and the 14 acres behind it are becoming the only historic property with a botanical garden in the entire Catskills. A community gathering space. A youth education center. A pollinator sanctuary.
This is a shared place – shaped by local residents, volunteers, and partners. Rooted in history. Grounded in care for the land. Created to restore something this town has been missing: a place to come together.
Rooted in People and Place
This isn’t a plan on paper. Work is already underway.
Community volunteers have helped clear the property. The Andes Garden Club used the grounds for their Community Day plant sale and float preparation. And 110 local residents have signed support forms – an extraordinary level of backing for a town this size.
What once gathered a family will now gather a community. The goal is to transform this historic site into a vibrant gathering place that serves everyone – restoring both the land and the connections that make Andes thrive.
The Town of Andes, New York
Nestled in the Catskill Mountains, Andes is a small rural town known for its natural beauty, strong sense of community, and deep connection to the land. Artists, educators, small farmers and craftspeople live and work here side by side, shaping a place where local culture, creativity, and care for the environment remain closely intertwined.
But Andes also faces real challenges: population loss dating back to 1955, a demographic skewed toward residents over 70, and limited year-round programming for children and families.
This project builds on what Andes already has.
At the heart of Andes, the Foundation’s 14-acre estate includes two historic residences once owned by Duncan Ballantine, whose home helped shape the town’s early civic life and remains closely connected to the center of town.
Source: Google photos, Private Archive
Areas of Focus
The Ballantine Manor: A Cultural Home
The Manor will serve as a cultural home for civic life – event and workshop space for local history programs, music, and arts. It’s a place for storytelling that preserves the voices and images of Andes families, and a showcase for new creative work from residents of every generation.
Andes Botanical Garden
The Andes Botanical Garden addresses a genuine ecological crisis:
- 70% of Monarch butterflies have disappeared
- Honeybee colonies have collapsed by 70%
- 22% of North American pollinators are now at near-extinction risk
The Garden serves as both an educational platform and a real ecological intervention – 13 acres of native habitat restoration, a pollinator sanctuary, a 1-acre sustainable farm for hands-on food education, water-mitigating plant installations (addressing local flooding concerns), and a future orchard with heritage apple and stone fruit varieties.
This is the only botanical garden of its kind in the entire Catskills.
Why This Matters
Andes has no year-round community gathering space—no place where a grandmother can teach a child to tend seedlings, where neighbors can gather beyond summer weekends, where the skills of elder makers can be passed on to the next generation.
This initiative addresses four interconnected crises: loss of community spaces, environmental decline, health disparities, and education inequality. Young people especially need places to unleash their creativity, achieve their potential, and collaborate – spaces where they can move from isolation to belonging, from consumption to contribution.
The Manor and gardens tackle all of these at once – creating a year-round gathering space, restoring native ecosystems, and offering hands-on programming where elders, makers, families, and youth can learn from one another, create together, and care for the land.
Led by Andes residents with support from MaNaBu Movement’s nonprofit infrastructure and funding networks, the goal is simple: make Andes more livable for everyone while honoring elder wisdom and restoring the land.
Leadership - Inner Circle
Tina DeSanto
Tina is a passionate board member of MaNaBu Movement Inc., dedicated to realizing the Andes Botanical Garden - a community-focused initiative to create an inspiring, educational space that celebrates plants, biodiversity, and environmental connection in the Catskills.
Drawing inspiration from iconic botanical destinations worldwide - the innovative Eden Project in Cornwall, the stunning Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, and the historic Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen - Tina envisions the Andes Botanical Garden as a place that fosters wonder, learning, and stewardship of the natural world.
With extensive experience in horticulture, Tina previously served as Director of Horticulture at Verdant NY, a sustainable landscape design-build firm in New York City. She managed nurseries as a perennial grower after transitioning from a career in advertising. She has deepened her knowledge through courses in landscape design, botany, and dendrology at the New York Botanical Garden.
In 2022, Tina founded the Andes Garden Club (andesgardenclub.org), a vibrant community organization promoting environmental education, sustainable land care, and stronger ties between people and nature in the Andes region.
She is also the creative force behind Escape Eco Gardens (escapesecogardens.com), where she designs and installs ecologically minded gardens that prioritize native and wildlife-supporting plants, invasive species removal, low-impact practices, and harmonious integration with local landscapes.
An avid adventurer, Tina loves rock climbing and travels extensively to explore botanical wonders globally. Her passion for the natural world, environmental education, and thoughtful garden design drives her ongoing efforts to inspire positive change and appreciation for our planet.
Joanne Kosuda-Warner
Joanne is a passionate and welcoming member of the advisory board for MaNaBu Movement Inc., supporting the creation of the Andes Botanical Garden—a vibrant, community-centered space for celebrating plants, biodiversity, and environmental connection in the Catskills.
With a lifelong love for history and gardens, Joanne serves as President of the Andes Society for History and Culture. She is deeply familiar with the intertwined heritage of the Hunting Tavern Museum—located directly across from the future botanical garden—and the town of Andes, including the meaningful 1849 marriage of Nancy Hunting to Duncan Ballantine, whose legacy links these two iconic sites.
Joanne's own home garden in Andes has been showcased multiple times on the Andes Garden Tour, where her knowledge of plants, gardening techniques, and generous seed-sharing spirit shine through. Previously, she served as curator of the Wallcoverings Collection at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City.
Today, she bridges her appreciation for the past with a commitment to the future, helping shape the Andes Botanical Garden into a place where history, nature, education, and community thrive together.
Irene DeSanto
Irene is a cherished advisory team member for MaNaBu Movement Inc., contributing her deep community insight and longstanding connection to Andes in support of the Andes Botanical Garden—a transformative project to create a welcoming, year-round destination for nature, education, and local vitality in the Catskills.
A full-time resident of Andes since 1990, Irene raised four children who all attended Andes Central School, rooting her family firmly in the town's fabric. In the early 2000s, she owned and operated a beloved family-friendly restaurant in the historic Ballantine Mansion building—the very site now central to the botanical garden vision. There, she and her family hosted gatherings and events that brought the community together, creating fond memories of shared connection in a space she always envisioned as a true meeting place.
Today, Irene co-runs the iconic Andes Diner alongside proprietor Robyn Ciccone, a beloved local staple that serves as a daily hub for residents and visitors alike. Through her years in business in Andes, she has witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by the community—particularly during the off-season—and passionately believes in the need for new attractions like the Andes Botanical Garden to draw people year-round and invigorate the town.
Irene's warm, hands-on spirit and lifelong dedication to Andes make her an invaluable voice on the advisory team, helping guide the botanical garden toward becoming a place that honors the town's history, fosters community bonds, and supports a thriving, sustainable future.
Leadership - Outer Circle
Tihana Pavic Smitran
Tihana is an award-winning entrepreneur and nonprofit leader. As Executive Director and Co-Founder of MaNaBu Movement Inc., she has built programs across 11 countries, empowering more than 36,000 youth. Under her leadership, MaNaBu has conducted hands-on programs with over 1,600 young people and revitalized over 120 green spaces, with support from the German Federal Government and GIZ, U.S. State Department, United Nations, and private-sector partners including Google org and Microsoft.
She has led successful EU-funded projects including ESIF OPKK innovation initiatives (recognized as top 5 best-implemented by HAMAG-BICRO), INTERREG CENTRAL EUROPE, Creative Europe MEDIA, and partnered on 7+ Erasmus programs. Most recently, she led the GIZ-funded YOUTH VA project in Kosovo, recognized as one of the most successful GIZ projects implemented in Kosovo in the last 15 years.
Recognized as Croatia's Best Startup Female Entrepreneur in 2017, she is a U.S. State Department Professional Fellow in Tech Innovation & Entrepreneurship, a United Nations alumna, and an Ashoka certified Systems Change Leader. She mentors women-led businesses through AWE Croatia, a U.S. State Department program aligned with the White House Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative. She is also an alumna of Women's Startup Lab in Silicon Valley, where she received mentorship from top VCs and entrepreneurs including Chris Yeh (Blitzscaling) and executives from LinkedIn.
John Heinsen
John Heinsen is an Emmy-recognized multi-platform producer and former Vice President of the Producers Guild of America with over two decades crafting breakthrough storytelling for global audiences. His leadership spans ABC/Disney, FOX, and Castle Rock Entertainment, including serving as showrunner for the Academy Awards (Oscars) for three years and holding executive board positions at the Producers Guild of America and the Television Academy.
Passionate about stories that drive social impact, John founded Bunnygraph Entertainment to produce content that builds community and meaningful change. His historical project Return to Le Cateau 1917 has exhibited internationally, using storytelling to foster empathy and remembrance across generations. At MaNaBu Movement, John leads the Advisory Circle and champions future-focused storytelling and innovation inspiring young people to confidently shape their futures.
Kamilah Gray Bain
Kamilah is a global marketing and operations leader at the forefront of creator-driven innovation. At Meta (Facebook & Instagram), she led strategies empowering creators to mobilize communities for societal impact - from pandemic public health initiatives to climate action and civic engagement campaigns reaching millions. She now leads integrated global marketing for TikTok's creator ecosystem, driving programs that scale innovation and cultural impact. With over a decade spanning Bloomberg, HBO, AMC Networks, and CAA, Kamilah combines creative vision with operational excellence and a commitment to media as a force for good. She advises MaNaBu to help empower the next generation of young changemakers worldwide.
Why Two Circles?
Every thriving community initiative needs both roots and reach.
Our Inner Circle brings the roots – the deep local knowledge, trusted relationships, and daily presence that only comes from living here.
Our Outer Circle brings the reach – experience scaling programs, securing funding, and connecting to resources that can amplify what’s already here.
Neither works without the other.
This is how Andes has always grown: by welcoming people who genuinely want to contribute while keeping local voices at the center.
Support this Project
Partner institutions
