A fresh approach to homelessness

I have come across another incredibly inspiring social venture. This one is the Homeless Garden Project in Santa Cruise, California. As their mission states, “The Homeless Garden Project provides job training and transitional employment to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The programs offer trainees an opportunity to rebuild and develop basic life skills and a sense of worth as human beings.” (Visit their site at: http://www.homelessgardenproject.org/)

The Homeless Garden Project is a community garden that provides job training and work opportunities to homeless people by teaching them how to grow organic food. In addition to the job-training garden, they operate a Community Supported Agriculture operation, an online store and a physical store in Santa Cruise, a Women’s Organic Flower Enterprise, a “Connecting with Community” program that helps the trainees find needed resources and assistance, a kitchen and resource canter that prepares 4 hot meals per week for the program participants, as well as offering workshops and other educational opportunities to others in the community. 25% of their income comes from CSA share purchases and sales from their store.

I really love learning more about social ventures that take a holistic approach to social problems. These problems do not occur in a vacuum, they are interconnected with many other social issues. Unfortunately, many of our traditional ways of addressing social problems take a “silo” approach and only address problems at the surface level (emergency shelters, soup kitchens, etc.). By considering all parts of the system that are contributing to the problem, you can have a greater impact on people’s lives. How can we change the status quo and start becoming more innovative in our approaches to serious problems like hunger and shelter, making them both more effective and more financially sustainable?