Hear the moving stories from the people in our programs
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.
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 …
I am truly honored to be asked to speak today honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His work and message of non-violence, unity, and love has deeply impacted many lives across the world. He worked to dismantle the systems of inequality that created conditions of poverty for so many communities worldwide. He believed that hunger and poverty were not individual …
Hello. My name is Patricia and this is the first time I’ve told my story. I was born in “fabulous” Las Vegas on the first day of summer, in 1973. Growing up in that hot desert valley was a stark contrast to the wet alfalfa farm in Utah that my grandmother moved to Vegas from. My grandfather left her to …
Hello my name is Cody Davis. I am 33 years old and I’m a native of California, being born in Monterey County in the mountains of Carmel Valley. I would like to share with you my experience with the Homeless Garden Project and the significant change in my life since becoming a trainee. I would like to start by giving …
Jennifer Jewell’s podcast is up! It’s one of the most beautiful pieces about the Homeless Garden Project that we have heard. Thank you to all who contributed. Cultivating Place with Jennifer Jewell: http://bit.ly/CultivatingHGP
Hello my name is Brenda Deckman and I love who I am today. I am proud to be part of the staff here at the Homeless Garden Project. It has changed my life completely. Almost 20 years ago, I left an abusive relationship and lost my 5-year old son and my home. It was a difficult decision to leave, made …
“In Santa Cruz, where I live, there’s an organization called the Homeless Garden Project. [. . .] It can’t ‘solve’ the problem of homelessness, but it’s been changing lives, one at a time, for nearly thirty years. Supporting itself in part by selling organic produce, it contributes more broadly to a revolution in how we think about people in need, …
From an early age I’ve been fascinated with food. Why do we eat what we eat? I wondered what unprepared foods looked like. How they tasted and worked together for nutrition. Where they came from. How they are sustained. For me this blossomed a passion for sustainability. How sustainable is one of the most important systems that we know? Food …
My name is Adam, I grew up in Santa Cruz county, in Aptos. My family was a pioneer family before the turn of the century in Aromas, California, where my Great grandfather Homer Marshall, ran a self- service station and a grocery store. In 1951, my Great Uncle Dolan took over the store and gas station. My grandfather was not …
