Community Gardening & Local Foods Initiative

In the last week of July, the phone at the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council rang. It was good news – the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council was selected as a grant recipient of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Community Gardening/Local Foods Initiative. The next day, more good news – the City of Chicago Department of Family and Support Services was also going to grant the BYNC funds from their Community Gardening/Local Foods Initiative.

Leveraging their relationships with other community organizations and service providers in the community, and their position as a Hub for Mayor Daley’s Youth Ready summer jobs program, the BYNC quickly identified and determined WIA-eligible (this determination basically means that we can document and prove that the youth is a low-income resident of the City of Chicago between the ages of 14-24 and that the youth faces at least one barrier to obtaining employment) 57 youth to participate in the program.

The BYNC staff sprang into action, and an orientation was held on Monday August 3. The first group of participants was briefed on the parameters of the program and a class was held on work readiness skills. That week, the participants quickly began planning their first garden and, on August 5, a group of the participants made the first trip to the University of Illinois Extensions office at the Agricultural High School for a day of training and hands-on work experience from U of I Extension Master Gardeners and Agricultural professionals – the beginning of a relationship that was critical to the success of the gardening program. By August 10, 57 youth had been enrolled in the program and were ready to work.

Over the next 7 weeks, these youth received training, classroom instruction, took educational field trips, and gained hands-on work experience converting two vacant, BYNC-owned lots into beautiful community gardens.

In addition to the work in the gardens, the youth made three trips to the University of Illinois’s Extension office at the Agricultural High school – ensuring that all participants had at least one opportunity to learn from and work along side agricultural professionals. The group visited Goodness Greeness, an organic produce distributor on 55th and Lowe, to learn about food safety & handling and Agri-Business. The youth watched a documentary about the largest urban garden in the United States – a 14 acre Community Garden in South Central Los Angeles. The participants also received classroom instruction on agri-business, food safety and handling, the food system, and work readiness skills. The work readiness component included discussions on workplace etiquette, taking initiative at work, setting goals, what behavior is acceptable in the workplace, resume writing, interviewing skills, and job search advice.

Although there is always work to do in a garden, the program ended with a celebration on August 26th, when the participants met as a group for the last time. Awards were given for best worker, best smile, most creative, perfect attendance, and a variety of other categories. The birthdays that occurred during the program were celebrated, one participant received her first baby shower, and many gifts and phone numbers were exchanged.

Over the next few days, several of the participants returned to help the BYNC staff with a few finishing touches, and many of the participants have vowed to stay engaged and make themselves available to help when needed – a testament both to their work ethic and to the fact that they have taken ownership of the gardens they helped to create.

Click HERE to download the pdf booklet about this program and read the full story.