Staff Stories: Dayna
When folks ask me how long I’ve been with Growing Hope, I have a hard time coming up with an answer. Almost seven years, if you count the last time I was hired, but my relationship with Growing Hope stretches back much farther. I was a teenager working at the Ypsi...
March 2023
I slowly traveled home the evening of this ice storm, in complete awe of the scene nature had painted for us. Trees shimmering with ice, as bright as diamonds on a cold February evening. That evening I heard nothing but the crackling of tree limbs and the howl of...
Building A CSA with Farm Manager, Christopher
As this funky Michigan warm weather draws nearer, I am finding myself spending more and more time outdoors preparing for the approaching growing season. Switching gears from desktops full of spreadsheets, old notes from the previous years, and bed maps for planting to...
February 2023
What does a connection to land mean to you? Answering this question for me as a Black American is beautifully complex. Connection to the land is a means of connecting with our ancestors. Black Americans have a deep history of stewarding the land within this country....
Staff Stories: June
Hi, my name is Juniper, and I’m Growing Hope’s Teen and Schools Manager! I’m still in my first year here at Growing Hope, though I have years of experience working with teens to promote youth-driven spaces. At my core, I’m an artist, and I’ve used that background to...
January 2023
Twenty thousand. This is the number of seedlings planted and nurtured at Growing Hope last year alone. Yes, 20,000, and we sourced an additional 10,000 from other local farms! Take a moment and imagine it; 20,000 new plants gracing the Growing Hope Urban farm...
We’re Updating the Produce Cart
Food is a basic human right. The impact of covid and the subsequent inflation has continued to highlight the systemic barriers to accessing food. Increasingly, individuals and families are forced to make difficult financial decisions and weigh how they will meet their...
Home Vegetable Garden 2022 Review
Staff Stories: Cristi Rodriguez-Alfaro, Garden Manager Heya, my name is Cristi Rodriguez-Alfaro and I am the Garden Manager at Growing Hope. I started working with Growing Hope in April of this year, and have been eager to experience and shape my work in each changing...
What’s going on in the Growing Hope Incubator Kitchen?
Staff Stories: Bee Mayhew, Growing Hope Incubator Kitchen Manager Hi! I'm Bee, Growing Hope's Incubator Kitchen Manager. Fall is my favorite season for many reasons, but mostly because of the bounty of food we have available this time of year. Bumper summer crops and...
Checking in with our Youth Programs
For our monthly blog posts, we have invited our staff to share stories about their work in their own voices. This month, we begin with Esha, our Youth Programs Manager, and the youth programming she has been running with Ypsilanti's local youth. Hello! I’m Esha...