Grace Gardens

What We Do
Grace Gardens provides an opportunity for people experiencing poverty, to learn how to grow harvest, store, and prepare delicious and nutritious food.

A ‘hand up’ versus a ‘handout’ moves one in the direction of self-sufficiency and sustainability. Learning and experiencing growing and preparing food is empowering; depending on others for food is not empowering, nor sustaining. Planting seeds, harvesting and preparing nourishing produce is a service full of grace.

Grace Gardens will provide support to individuals and families experiencing poverty through various organized activities including:

1. A Community Program. This program gives families, small group of adults and individuals experiencing poverty an opportunity to create their own backyard or balcony garden. This will occur in partnership with other organizations prioritizing individuals and families experiencing poverty. We are currently exploring partnerships.
2. An Annual Program and Community Hub/Centre. This program will be for teens (youth), adults and seniors facing poverty and will encompass the yearly cycle of soil preparation, seeding, watering, weeding, harvesting, storing and preparing and sharing good local food with other. A ‘community garden hub’ or community centre will be the common instruction garden space. This will promote people working and sharing together. Staff will teach food growing and harvesting techniques to the group and one-on-one as needed.

Goals

• improve the physical and psychological health of individuals experiencing poverty by connecting people with nature and with each other in human community (a component of poverty is isolation, particularly in an rural setting);
• improve the health of our natural environment;
• support all season gardening for those facing poverty and education about sustainable food security education;
• develop practical domestic skills in food management, economic prudence, as well as human skills in social development and protection of the earth’s biological systems.

How You Can Help

Donate
Make a financial pledge supporting Living Ways to kick start this project. Donate Now

Volunteer
If you are a permaculture practitioner or student looking for a project, a gardener, or have experience creating holistic gardens, we’d love to hear from you. We are creating a list of potential volunteers.  Volunteer Here