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 …

A Light, A Raft, An Outstretched Hand

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 …

We Are Not Meant To Suffer Alone

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 …

Living Up to the Memory of My Parents

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 …

Podcast with Jennifer Jewell

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 

Somewhere To Belong

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 …

Jonathan Franzen, Keynote Speaker at HGP Sustain Farm Supper, August 24, 2019

 “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, …

Facing the Future

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 …