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 …
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 …
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 …
Donna spoke at our 2017 Downtown Store Gala Holiday Open House on December 1, 2017. The trainees had been working in the workshop for over a month, creating wreaths, decorating our beeswax candles, making our bath and body products, baking mixes, herb salts and much more! This Open House celebrated our trainees’ work and achievements. Hello everyone, welcome. I’m Donna …
Relationships, engagement, accomplishment and positive emotion all play an integral part in well-being. A strength of our training program is our investment in the whole person, so that trainees can sustain their well being after graduation. This is how trainees describe the effect the Training Program has had on their lives: “Social workers, volunteers, employees, and other trainees are a …
Early on, the Women’s Organic Flower Enterprise filled a void in Homeless Garden Project’s training program during the winter months and held out the promise of earned income for the Project. In 2014, the Homeless Garden Project Store has done so much more than fill out the training program in the winter months. Today it’s at the center of a web of community …
The Homeless Garden Project is about growth, learning and starting new life. As a trainee, I’m learning so many valuable tools in gardening, planting and harvesting. Before I started working at the farm, I hadn’t worked in eight years. My self-confidence was low, but my hopes for my future were high. From day one, Lindsay, our Supervisor, made me feel …
In early February I was invited to give a brief presentation to trainees of the Homeless Garden Project to share some of the things an employer looks for in the job application and interview process. There was a lively exchange of questions and answers and further discussion of potential job opportunities in the local horticulture industry. Immediately following the presentation …
The training program at the Homeless Garden Project serves as a principle mechanism to ensure HGP achieves our mission, which states “in the soil of our urban farm and garden, people find the tools they need to build a home in the world”. In interviewing prospective trainees, our staff looks at three central qualifying features in a candidate. A candidate …
The City of Santa Cruz is an important partner in our work of providing Transitional jobs to people who are homeless. Here, several voices advocate to Santa Cruz City Council members on behalf of HGP and the people we serve. Dear City Council Members, I met my husband, Eugene, right before he became homeless. Because I believed in him, I …
