HOPE Gardens

Vital Stats

Kevin J

Chapel Hill, NC

  • people helped30
  • People Doing It40

The Problem

All too often, people living in poverty have difficulty finding food to eat, let alone food that is nutritious and grown locally. Worrying about one's welfare naturally places the pursuit of quality food and fresh produce in the backseat, and oftentimes substantial knowledge and/or economic barriers to gardening only serve to mitigate the problem and prevent individuals from growing their own food. Finally, the decision to start gardening for the first time can be daunting and isolating without community support from people with shared interests.

Plan of Action

Currently, student staff members run a variety of programs through the Garden. These efforts include produce distributions at Freedom House, the IFC Food Pantry, and St. Joseph's Bread ministry; produce sales to Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe, on-site at the Garden, and at the United Church of Chapel Hill; a collaborative initiative with HomeStart, the women and children's shelter, to develop a food, nutrition, and cooking program; and annual individual plot leases to interested community gardeners. In addition, we hope to implement an on-site job-training / transitional employment program that would help enable homeless or at-risk individuals to overcome identifiable and tangible barriers to employment, such as a criminal record or gaps in employment history.
Go
Environment
Physical and Mental Health
Healthy Living
Homelessness
Hunger
Organic Food
Homelessness and Poverty
Sustainability

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