Starting a homeless garden project
Abstract
The Homeless Garden Project in Santa Cruz, California, provides jobs and life training for homeless people within the therapeutic context of an organic garden. Meaningful and productive work within the garden or related enterprises is the basis for the healing process necessary for many homeless people to re-enter the culture of work. This process is also one of community building — allowing for renewed relationships as community members reap the rewards of bountiful organic produce and a decreased population of homeless members. This effective practice offers steps on how to duplicate this project in other towns as shared in materials distributed with the video, Growing Hope: The Homeless Garden Project, produced by Ric Howard and distributed by The Video Project, San Francisco, CA.Issue
Santa Cruz County has unemployment rates that routinely exceed state and national averages (Environmental Research Foundation, 2002). Increasing numbers of people are living below the national poverty level and many are chronically homeless. Those who find work often earn minimum wage at jobs that are not personally meaningful. Those who remain unemployed face serious issues of isolation, with no network of support.Action
The goals of the Homeless Garden Project are to:- Offer a supportive, meaningful work environment that encourages self-esteem, responsibility, and self-sufficiency
- Integrate homeless people and the community in the security and beauty of a productive garden
- Put into practice the principles of economic and ecological sustainability
- Compile a list of existing resources.
Start Small — Think Big! Set objectives and goals for the project with others. Call a community meeting for anyone interested to get involved. Be as inclusive as possible. Existing resources include:
- Service agencies: homeless services, volunteer groups, employment services, veterans agency, church groups, school service clubs, other
- Land resources: public land, parks, vacant lots, private property
- Local community gardeners and farmers: community supported agriculture farmers, community garden programs, master gardeners, USDA agricultural extension
- Sustainable agriculture advocates
- Develop alliances and cultivate relationships with city and county government, local schools, universities, service groups, gardening clubs, and sustainable agriculture organizations
- Document homelessness in your community.
- How many homeless citizens live in your community?
- How are they perceived by the general public and local politicians?
- How many homeless people are seeking a paying job so they can find shelter?
- Learn about organic growing practices.
Organic farmers work in partnership with nature, promoting biological diversity through a system of crop rotation, natural fertilizers and soil conservation and renewal.
- Learn about horticultural therapy.
Horticultural therapy is a process utilizing plants and horticulture activities to improve the social, educational, psychological and physical adjustment of persons, thus improving their mind, body, spirit. Horticultural therapy has been recognized as a healing agent for over 180 years, but it wasn't until the Federal Government utilized it for disabled veterans in the 1940's that its real value began to be recognized on a large scale. Horticultural therapy is used in jails, rest homes, and rehabilitation centers of all kinds. Today, more than a dozen major colleges and universities offer horticultural therapy programs or courses.
Kansas State University offers advanced degrees in horticultural therapy.
Contact the American Horticultural Therapy Association and find the local chapter in your area.
- Explore marketing options.
Growing something in and of itself is therapeutic; selling it is practical. Decide whether the program will be growing food to sell for greater economic self-sufficiency ("cash crops") or growing a garden to build community, supplementing the community's food supply. Some possible ways to market produce are through community supported agriculture, farmers markets, direct to retail, wholesale, or value-added products (e.g. canned, bottled, dried).
- Develop sources of funding and fundraising efforts.
Farming and social services are difficult to combine in a completely self-sufficient enterprise. Seek additional contributions through private donations and grants.
- Research and apply to public and private foundations that support this type of project. Guides to foundations can be found at the local library, university or college, or at a local community foundation.
- Apply for city and county government grants that support social services and job programs in the community.
- Start a mailing list. Ask to borrow a mailing list from a local politician, agency or organization that would be compatible with the project. Send an introductory fundraising letter and use the responses to start your own mailing list.
- Outline a fundraising campaign for the entire first year. Benefit concerts, telethons, newsletters, and point of sale donations are some ways to raise funds.
- Contact individuals that support the idea of a homeless garden project; use your own circle of friends, along with people in the community who donate to similar causes. Personal, one-on-one requests have the highest rate of return for time spent.
- Choose an appropriate organizational structure.
There are a variety of organizational structures from which to choose. Each project has its own personality and is really a reflection of the people who get involved and stay committed. You can choose between a hierarchy, a democracy, or a consensus model, and still get a project to work. Whatever structure you choose, the following positions have been important to the success of the Homeless Garden Project.
Key People Needed:
- Experienced Farmer/Market Gardener who enjoys teaching others and has experience growing food for market.
- Administrative/Business Manager with skills in personnel, organizational and financial management.
- Client Services Coordinator who maintains links with local service agencies, and facilitates referrals for homeless workers who need outside services, resources or support (i.e., counseling, driver's licenses, identification, medical and legal assistance, eyeglasses, shelter, boots, additional employment, other)
- Bookkeeper/Accountant who takes care of day-to-day financial tasks related to payroll, sales, other. An accountant may also be needed for long-term financial reporting.
- Fundraisers who are experienced, enthusiastic, or willing people; anyone can be a fundraiser if they care about the project. Traditionally, the Board of Directors is responsible for fundraising, though the people who are closest to the day-to-day operations often have stories that best demonstrate the reasons for supporting the project.
- Practice democratic management.
- Everyone's voice is important and everyone has some skill or strength that can potentially be an asset to the project.
- Hold weekly "circle meetings" at the garden, set the agenda collectively, and have someone facilitate the meeting.
- Create project rules and policies with the widest representation as possible, being sure to include a voice representing the project as a whole. Always consider what is best for the long-term sustainability of the project and its mission.
- Involve workers, staff and board members in all aspects of the project — public hearings, fundraising, policy-making, creating newsletters. In this way, individuals will find their own particular niche and they will be actively involved in the overall success of the project.
- Form a board of directors or join an existing board that does service projects in your community. This will supply you with additional talent and resources to draw from. Ideally, the widest representation is best, from homeless garden worker to local philanthropist. Lawyers, agricultural experts, business people, ministers, doctors, bankers, and local politicians are all valuable additions to the board.
Joining an organization that has a board and much of the administrative infrastructure in place may be easier than starting your own non-profit. This way another non-profit organization can become your "fiscal agent," handling most or all of your financial and administrative tasks, while also providing the project with the tax-exempt status necessary to receive charitable contributions. Be sure that the mission statement is in alignment with the mission of any group you join.
- Create a mission statement that drives, supports and inspires every aspect of the project. It can be written and rewritten if necessary, but must always come from the collective voice of those involved. Be sure that any group you join, or any funds you accept, supports the principles stated in the project's mission statement.
- Do not compromise the ideals of the project. Commitment to goals and honest collaborative effort will lead to success. State goals clearly and others will be inspired to participate.
Context
The Homeless Garden Project was modeled after the Vet's Garden, a very successful program of horticultural therapy at the Brentwood Veteran's Affairs Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, which began in 1986. The Project began in 1990 through the efforts of Paul Lee, a professor of philosophy and a herbalist, and Lynne Basehore, a local environmentalist. Both Lee and Basehore were advocates involved with the Santa Cruz Citizen's Committee for the Homeless. The project began in conjunction with the Santa Cruz County Parks and Recreation Department's Community Gardens Program. The project is affiliated with the Santa Cruz Citizen's Committee for the Homeless, along with the federally funded Interfaith Satellite Shelter Program which provides service managers, payroll services, and supervisory direction. The County's federally funded Job Training Program also provides client services, job referral, and funding for up to five workers. Other funding sources include private donations from individuals, groups, and businesses. In 1998, the Homeless Garden Project incorporated as a non-profit organization.
At its inception the project was located on a two and a half-acre parcel, owned by the City of Santa Cruz, and temporarily leased to the Homeless Garden Project. In 2002, five full-time staff are salaried employees, and 24 homeless gardeners are employed for 20-30 hours a week at $6.75 an hour (minimum wage). After the second year the hourly rate rises to $7.25 an hour. Funds to pay these salaries and wages come from a variety of sources, primarily individual support and sales of the produce. In 1998 the project expanded to two garden sites: 3 1/2 acres at the Natural Bridges Farm and 1/4 acre at the Washington Street Garden. There is also a retail store at the Washington Street site to sell wreaths and other products created by the Women's Enterprise. The Homeless Garden Project would like to expand to a 600-acre site also owned by the city, potentially leasing 10 acres. Doing so would enable the Project to serve a significantly larger share of the county's estimated homeless population of 3,300 individuals. (Source: Santa Cruz County Homeless 2000 Census and Needs Assessment, Applied Survey Research.)
The city of Santa Cruz, CA is situated on the northern part of the Monterey Bay about 74 miles south of San Francisco and thirty miles from San Jose. The city has an estimated population of 55,000 (Source: Santa Cruz County Homeless 2000 Census and Needs Assessment, Applied Survey Research). The Santa Cruz campus of the University of California opened in 1965 and has a population of over 13,000 student (2001-02). The major industries include agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, food processing, and high tech.
Outcome
For participants:- Work skills are learned and practiced. The training component of the program consists of hands-on gardening activities that include irrigation, composting, bed preparation, planting and harvesting. Additionally, a lecture series is held from April through November (usually once a week for an hour) to provide theoretical knowledge. In the past, a ten-week business training was included for those women participating in the Women's Organic Flower Enterprise.
- Interactive skills are learned and practiced. A client services manager and a team of volunteer counselors work with the gardeners to help solve problems and create personal goals.
- Numerous people who were labeled "long-term unemployed" by the county's Job Partnership Training Act have come to the Garden Project and are now a part of the regular work force.
- Increased stability, either in the form of finding shelter or sustained sobriety which begins at the garden.
- Decreased numbers of homeless people.
- Commercial produce and flower sales: organic produce and dried wreaths and flowers are available weekly at the Santa Cruz Farmers Market and at local restaurants, health food stores, and other retail outlets.
- The city's unused parcel of land was transformed from a weed-filled, over-grown dumping ground to a fertile productive field using biodynamic French Intensive gardening methods.
- An awareness of the relationship between growing food and consuming it, through direct contact with the garden through the Community Supported Agriculture program.
- Women's Organic Flower Enterprise where women produce wreaths, dried flower arrangements and hand-dipped beeswax candles from organic flowers and herbs grown in the garden. The handcrafted gift line is sold both wholesale and retail and can be purchased online. The project's culinary herb wreaths are featured in the nationally distributed Seventh Generation catalogue.
- Community Supported Agriculture — begun in 1991 — Individuals and families invest in the garden by buying into the harvest each year at the beginning of the growing season. A shareholder receives a weekly supply of organically grown produce and flowers throughout the harvest season, from May through November, which he or she picks up from the garden or is delivered to the shareholders' home for a small fee. In 2002, a full share (June through November 1) costs $600. In 2002, 15 full shares and 19 1/2 half shares were sold.
- Side Job Program provides an opportunity for local residents to hire Homeless Garden Project workers for landscaping, yard work, hauling and similar jobs. This provides workers with additional income, an opportunity to make contacts in the community, and work experience outside the Project's structured setting.
- University of California Community Studies Internships: undergraduate students participate in field studies at the Homeless Garden Project where they work as volunteers, collecting field notes daily and writing a final organizational analysis essay or paper that addresses some issue of social change experienced in the garden.
- Community volunteers work in the gardens, help with wreath and candle production, staff the retail store, assist in social services, or help in other ways such as fund raising or activities support.
Growing Hope: The Homeless Garden Project is a 27-minute documentary that shares the history and activities of the garden, was produced by students in the University of California's Community Studies Internship Program and narrated by actor, Harrison Ford. A study guide is included for classroom/community discussion.
Evidence
From 1990 to 1998, The Homeless Garden Project has provided training and employment to more than 120 people and paid out more than $200,000 in wages to those individuals. In 1998, the Homeless Garden Project worked with 40 participants, half of whom were chronically homeless. By program completion, well over half had already found housing, while another 55 percent had reconnected with family.Posted On
August 28, 2002For More Information
Resources
From The Resource Center library:
Growing Hope: The Homeless Garden Project (video)
Item number: V2186
To purchase the video, contact:
The Video Project
200 Estates Drive
Ben Lomond, CA 95005
Phone: 1-800-4-PLANET
E-mail: video@videoproject.com
See also, the following resources from Campaign Consultation, Inc. for ideas on fundraising in your community:
Resources Now! National Institute
Twice annually, this two-day institute is made available to community service leaders with experience in fundraising. It consists of four resource and fund development tracks, with three workshops in each. These 12 three-hour sessions include coaching components and action planning. The institute is designed to provide participants with opportunities to hone skills and apply knowledge to rapidly install the mechanisms to raise resources now! Some sessions include corporate emphasis on Inside the Corner Office; individual fundraising related to To Raise $, Raise People; and Asking Clinics to practice the 3Ts of messaging through text, team, and talk to attract resources.
Resource and Fund Development Workshops
Campaign Consultation is providing a broad range of three-hour stand-alone workshops specifically created to guide and support grantees toward greater financial self-sufficiency. Some offerings include e-Philanthropy, the Value of Your Brand, and Cause Marketing.