Growing Hope Gardens
We are excited to be supporting Growing Hope Gardens' thriving community by donating 5% of all purchases made during our Black Friday Event!
HISTORY:
Growing Hope Gardens (GHG) was founded in 2019 by Carolyn Day, a Master Gardener who witnessed the powerful impact of edible gardens while volunteering at a local homeless shelter. Having experienced homelessness as a youth, Carolyn remained especially sensitive to the reality that food insecurity can often be a direct result of transitional living. She began to take action towards developing a local solution, and launched a pilot project by planting four garden beds at The People Concern’s Samoshel Shelter. Carolyn took this initiative to the next level and worked earnestly to establish a nonprofit that would support folks who suffer from food insecurity by creating and tending to gardens.
MISSION:
We implement and grow regenerative, organic food gardens with residents of homeless shelters and affordable housing, to function as a place for accessing food, healing, skill training, and community building.
OBJECTIVES:
The overarching objective of GHG is to increase accessibility of local, sustainably-grown produce for low-income community members. This work directly supports opportunities to build capacity in underserved communities wanting to grow, increase accessibility to fresh vegetables, and provide dignified work opportunities for unhoused elderly and youth.
We believe that on-site gardening and opportunities for residents to work with their hands helps to establish a sense of community, increase access to a consistent food source, and contribute to improving positive health outcomes. The act of taking a seed and using one’s hands to grow that seed into food gives our participants a way back into their hopes and dreams which allows them to move forward with hope for a happier and productive life.
ACTIVITIES:
Activities conducted by GHG not only include building, implementing, growing and supporting all components of the garden, but also involve careful training for the on-site residents, community building through group exercises, and ongoing learning opportunities facilitated by GHG volunteers. Bi-monthly science-based training is provided to all program participants during our maintenance visits. Yearly community work days also include a “garden-to-table” segment, meaning a demonstration is given on how to prepare a plant-based meal and then shared with the community. To date, 15-30% of residents attend these events, making the food garden activities the most attended ones at Community Corp of Santa Monica, our main partner.
Learn more at GardenHopeGardens.org
