My name is Alison Alkon and I’m a professor in the community studies program at UCSC. I do research and write and teach about food justice, meaning the ways that inequalities like race, class and gender affect who gets access to healthy food, so clearly an organization like the Homeless Garden Project, that helps folks who are struggling to both …
A Mountain of Gratitude
On November 23, 2024, HGP hosted its annual Holiday Celebration, screening the documentary film Food, Inc. 2 and a talk by author Eric Schlosser at the 418 Project in downtown Santa Cruz. Before the event, HGP welcomed Chris Beresh and Kyle Franks to speak of their experience with the program. Below are their talks: Good evening, My name is Christopher …
From Riches to Rags to One Day at a Time
Hello everyone, my name is Chris and I’m forty-seven years old. Today I’m going to tell you my story – a journey that has taken me from the depths of despair to a place of hope and gratitude. It’s a story shaped by unique experiences across different continents and cultures. I’ve had to leave out many, many details for times …
A Sense of Fulfillment
This testimonial was delivered at HGP’s October First Friday event, Hope Renewed, at the Downtown Store on October 4th, 2024, following a talk from Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley. Hello, my name is Charles Ian Stange, a 43-year-old originally from Berkeley, California, born on September 17, 1981, at Alta Bates Hospital. My mother, Jill Marie Blough, was just 17 and …
Engaging in Active Hope
We are pleased to share this keynote talk from HGP’s July 20,2024 Sustain Supper by Anne R. Kapuscinski, Director of Coastal Science and Policy program & Professor of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz & Chair of Board of Directors, Union of Concerned Scientists. Video of the full presentation is at the bottom of the post with Anne’s talk …
We Grow So Many Wonderful Things Together at HGP
“Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them.”
A Second Opportunity
Being homeless I am never happy, but sometimes I am content. Since I started working for HGP and earning a paycheck I have been content. My god, just having a bike that’s not stolen is a godsend. I use to have to walk everywhere, about 8 miles a day for most of a year.