Junior Urban Farmer Education/Employment Program

The youth of Gary, Indiana have traditionally lacked access to food security, extracurricular opportunity, and employment for too long. For that reason, the Gary Food Council is establishing a 3-year program to train and employ more than 100 youth in best urban farming practices in partnership with major local growers and assistance from our local Purdue extension office.

After our certified Junior Urban Farmers complete their internships, we will then employ those 100 trained and certified youth as Urban Farming Educators. In this capacity, they will deliver urban farming and nutrition education to more than 1,500 students in the city while expanding access to locally grown food in the city for their peers and fellow residents.

If we reach $3,000 in donations, we become eligible for up to $100,000 in grant monies awarded by A Community Thrives that would bring our full 3-year program to fruition. 

We have set our goal during this fundraiser at $5,000 because it allows us to train, certify, and provide internships for at least one cohort of Junior Urban Farmers this year.

The following points summarize each phase of our full program and work in a yearly cycle only limited by funding:

• Certification (Phase 1): A cohort of 10 students (ages 12-17) will attend a 10-week virtual class session prior to the growing season.

  • They will also be required to attend 3 in-person work/study sessions on local farms/gardens

  • Students will receive a weekly stipend for completing assigned lessons

  • Upon graduating, students will receive formal certification and the ability to apply for internships with local growers during the growing season

• Internship (Phase 2): Cohorts of 10 certified Junior Urban Farmers will be able to apply for 2 week internships with local growers during the growing season.

  • They will be required to work 12 hrs. over the course of their 2-week internship planning, designing, and implementing a systematic improvement on their host farms and gardens (composting, irrigation, growing methods, etc.)

  • Interns will be paid $10/hr for their work

  • Interns will receive formal certification, the ability to be promoted, and earn higher wages (+$1/hr. per promotion) with each internship they successfully accept and complete (up to 4 per growing season)

• Educator (Phase 3): Cohorts of 5 certified Junior Advanced (or higher rank) Urban Farmers will be employed by the Gary Food Council to plan, design, and implement workshops, classes, and camps for youth and youth organizations in the city (supervised by our professional educators) .

  • This phase sees our educators transitioning from consumers of urban farming education to producers of urban farming education seeking to position them as experts to be consulted on and in best urban farming practices who are also able to call upon volunteers (Phase 1 and 2 students and interns) to execute large scale events that help expand healthy food access to the residents of the city of Gary

The history of our city has meant for our children that they are too often behind the curve in being prepared for in demand and cutting edge jobs. With the emergence of green careers as one of the fastest growing professional sectors, it only makes sense given our mission and goals that we embrace this opportunity to provide our youth with the head start they need, deserve, and have historically lacked.

Your $5, $50, or $500 donation is that single step that gets us farther along in our journey to ensure sustainable food access for all of our residents. This program will also expose the youngest among us to healthy habits that build professional and technical acumen while directly and immediately improving their experienced lives.