Good Afternoon Everyone and Welcome to the Cesar Chavez Day of service here at the Homeless Garden Projects Farm. So how was lunch? Let’s thank 1440 for providing us with such an outstanding & nourishing lunch! First-off I would like to thank each and everyone of you for not only taking the time to show up… but putting in the …
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 …
All the Beauty in Me
When I was preparing for this talk, it was important to me that all of you here as guests at our Sustain Supper would get my very best. I wanted to speak in a way that you could see my excitement about my experience here, but also see how important the program is in our community. This program excites me, …
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.”
Getting Back to the Life I Love and Cherish
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 …
Exactly a year ago today, I never would have imagined I could be in this place now.
Not too long ago, I was in a marriage living in a home with my husband and children, and my mom lived close by. My dad died when I was twelve, and my mom and I have always been very close since then. I was married for fourteen years and have been through a lot with my husband. Addiction was …
Assessing HGP’s Long Term Impact
Over the past 12 years, staff and faculty at the UCSC Blum Center on Poverty, Social Enterprise, and Participatory Governance have worked with HGP to document trainee growth and the transformative power of the farm. In addition to asking trainees to complete questionnaires at the beginning and end of their participation in the program, we have also been working to …
Watching My Life Bloom
My name is Jessica and this is my truth. I always knew that my chronic homelessness had a thin line between being caused by chance and by circumstance. What started by circumstance created a pattern in my life that consisted of bad choices and hard decisions. A lot of it can also depend on your stance of whether or not …
Our Volunteers Share Their Stories
“Service is not a hierarchy but a reciprocity in which the distinctions between teacher and pupil, giver and receiver, helper and helped constantly dissolve.” –Scott London In honor of Make a Difference Week, we took time to acknowledge our extraordinary community of volunteers, and to reflect on how volunteering with HGP has made a difference in people’s lives. Becca McKnight is an invaluable …
Here, Amongst the Flowers and Vegetables
Lienallie gave this talk at Permaculture Action Day at our farm on November 4, 2017. Over the course of the day, about 200 people gathered to take part in a day of hands-on regenerative projects, music, shared food, workshops, and taking action as a community. Lienallie spoke about her experience in Homeless Garden Project’s transitional employment program. Here are her remarks. Hello, …