Haley House would not be farming at 95R Thornton Street if it weren’t for the invitation from and collaboration with Hawthorne Youth & Community Center (HYCC). Our joint teen employment program has evolved over the years to best meet the teens’ interests and community needs with a steadfast commitment to empower youth leaders and community members to understand their relationship with food and equip them to be leaders in the disruption of unhealthy food systems and catalysts for health and wellness in their families and beyond.
The farm also offers space to our Roxbury based groups focusing on trauma response and healing. Inspired originally by our partnership with We Are Better Together (WABT), we additionally worked with UUUM’s Believe in Success, Deedee’s Cry and a few other groups that see the healing potential of working and being together in the natural world. Does this sound like your group? Contact farm@haleyhouse.org for more information.
YouthBuild Boston (YBB)’s cohorts of young people across their 3 programs are integrated into daily and seasonal operations at the farm. Their teams have designed and built all our farm infrastructure – picnic tables, chairs, grape arbor, berrie trellises, tool sheds, wash and pack station, community garden beds and have participated in all farming practices and even redesigned our main production block in 2021. The hard working hands and big hearts of the YBB staff and students have allowed the farm to expand and grow leaps and bounds.
One of the main goals of stewarding the Thornton Street Farm is to ensure the neighborhood community has increased resources, open space and beauty in the face of intense ‘development.’ The first raised beds were built for neighbors to tend and 75 over the farm & HYCC sites remain for neighborhood use today. Live in Highland Park and interested in a garden bed? Contact contact95garden@gmail.com.
We work closely with our hyper local school and teen groups like Paige Academy & the Nathan Hale School and are always eager to partner with other Roxbury school and teen groups. Does this sound like your group? Contact farm@haleyhouse.org for more information.
We have opportunities for folks in our community to get involved with our farm! Visit our volunteer page to sign up to receive notice of shifts at the farm. Get on our mailing list or follow us on social media to hear when we have public community events like our Summer Showcase. Reach out to us if you want to donate seeds, seedlings, building materials, farm and garden supplies, or money to support the farm. If you are a Roxbury based teen, school, or healing/trauma response group, contact us for partnership opportunities.
Haley House uses food with purpose and the power of community to break down barriers between people, empower individuals, and strengthen neighborhoods. We believe in radical solutions: solving problems at their root by challenging attitudes that perpetuate suffering and building alternative models.
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