HGP Featured in Smithsonian Exhibit

Published in Santa Cruz Sentinel: October 5, 2023. By JESSICA A. YORK Visiting the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in his native Washington, D.C. this summer, Paul Goldberg and his family made a smart turn at the 11-ton elephant specimen looming over the grand rotunda and, there, found a piece of home. Amidst an interactive temporary exhibit titled “Our Places: Connecting …

The Farm Nourishes Me

Hello, my name is Doug, I have been at the Homeless Garden Project since May. I grew up on the east coast, and have a construction, and restaurant background. I moved to California about ten years ago, and even though I had experience, it was hard for me to find work. The Homeless Garden Project gets people from all different …

Agricultural Work and the Benefits to Well-being on the Homeless Garden Project Farm

The Homeless Garden Project Farm provides an avenue for Agriculture Therapy. It is a site for the community to come together and experience healing, growth, and solace. My Journey with HGP The Homeless Garden Project is a unique site representing strength and resilience in the Santa Cruz community. This farm provides a healing and therapeutic setting for everyone involved.  During …

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.

Belonging to Something Bigger Than Myself

If you would have told me just a few short months ago that I will be asked to speak for the city of Santa Cruz, honestly I would’ve told you that you were crazy. No one tells you life is easy. But I believe it is as hard as you make it, and I made my life extremely hard for …