We’re excited to announce ANOTHER grant award with the city of Chicago! The Community Growers Program is going to allow us to GROW so we can SOW more in West Pullman!
The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the food inequality issues experienced by many in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. Because of this, the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) has created the Community Growers Program.
Through this program, BACP and partner agency NeighborSpace expect to reduce the barriers to urban agriculture by supporting urban growers with access to land, resources to build long-term sites, and technical support. This program will increase equitable community-access to healthy foods by creating new food access points in neighborhoods experiencing food insecurity. Through the Community Growers Program, the grant awardees will be growing produce that will be available for purchase on-site and at local farmers markets, helping make fresh food more accessible in communities with limited access to affordable and nutritious foods.
As the lead delegate agency of the Community Growers Program, NeighborSpace will provide grants and ongoing technical assistance to growers, understand the specific needs of each project site, and provide the appropriate guidance. This support includes assisting new and existing agriculture businesses with infrastructure and/or other resources: water hydrant installations, environmental assessments and land remediation, activation of vacant lots into productive urban agriculture sites, capacity building projects, and providing technical support and guidance with business management.
Official Announcement
Mayor Brandon Johnson, the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP), and nonprofit urban land trust organization, NeighborSpace, alongside a collective of organizations (Chicago Food Policy Action Council (CFPAC), Community Food Navigator, DePaul Steans Center, Grow Greater Englewood, Advocates for Urban Agriculture, Urban Growers Collective, and Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest), have announced the first round of awardees for the City’s Community Growers Program. The eighteen awardees selected will increase equitable community-access to healthy foods by creating new food access points in neighborhoods experiencing food insecurity. This round of Community Growers Program awardees includes existing urban agriculture initiatives and experienced growers looking to establish new urban agriculture sites. Community Growers Program first round recipients include:
• Contemporary Farmer, Inc
• Fresher Together
• Kuumba Tre-Ahm Community Garden
• Finding Justice A Flower and Vegetable Garden
• Milpa Mizan
• Mollie’s Market Garden LLC
• North Lawndale Greening Committee and The Farm 2 Table Pipeline project
• Otis Farm Stand Worker Cooperative
• Patchwork Farms
• South Shore Community Farm
• Stalwart Market, Inc.
• Getting Grown Collective
• The Salaam Community Health & Wellness Center/Eat to Live Garden
• The Seed Keepers Collective and The Green Lots Project
• UNION Impact Center
• We Sow We Grow
• What’s Growing On
• Wood St Collective
The Community Grower’s Program, designed in partnership with the City of Chicago Food Equity Council, is a $2 million investment in urban agriculture with the goal to increase food equity in communities with a history of disinvestment by encouraging the development of urban agriculture sites by local growers. To learn more about the Community Growers Program and BACP’s Recovery Plan efforts, please visit www.Chicago.gov/BACPRecoveryPlan
