Cook County Board of Commissioners is Submitting a Proposed Resolution Honoring the 10th Anniversary of Growing Home

The Cook County Board of Commissioners is submitting a proposed resolution on Tuesday to honor the 10th Anniversary of Growing Home.

Our Executive Director, Harry Rhodes, and our Board President, Valerie Denney, will be at the Cook County Board Meeting, located at 118 N. Clark St. Room 567, on May 1st at 10 am. Help us celebrate our 10th year by attending this meeting, or join us at our 10th Annual Benefit, also on May 1st.

Submitting a Proposed Resolution sponsored by

TONI PRECKWINKLE, Cook County Board President, and JESUS G. GARCIA, JOAN PATRICIA MURPHY, PETER N. SILVESTRI, and JEFFERY R. TOBOLSKI , Cook County Commissioners

HONORING THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF GROWING HOME’S FIRST ORGANIC FARM

WHEREAS, Growing Home is a not-for-profit social enterprise whose mission is to operate, promote, and demonstrate the use of organic agriculture as a vehicle for job training, employment, and community development.

WHEREAS, Growing Home has a transitional jobs program that targets people with multiple barriers to employment, such as homelessness, lack of education, history of substance abuse, and prior incarceration, and helps them get jobs.

WHEREAS, in 2011, Growing Home trained 35 people in two 14-week sessions, dividing their time between classroom training and hand-on, on the job horticulture training, offering participants a stipend equal to minimum wage for hours worked and studied, and providing ongoing job search support even after they graduate.

WHEREAS, many neighborhoods in Cook County are considered “food deserts” because of the difficulty that residents of these areas have in accessing affordable healthy food, particularly fruits and vegetables, and studies have repeatedly shown an irrefutable link between limited food access and poor health outcomes, particularly in the form of diet-related illnesses such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

WHEREAS, Growing Home is a leader in advocating for local healthy food systems and is working to transform food deserts like Englewood into food destinations by making fresh organic produce available where access to healthy food is lacking.

WHEREAS, Growing Home has access to certified organic land in Back of the Yards, owned by Su Casa Catholic Worker, a shelter for battered women and, in 2011, Growing Home donated more than 500 pounds of produce to Su Casa’s soup kitchen.

WHEREAS, this month Growing Home will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its first farm, the Les Brown Memorial Farm, which was named after the founder of Growing Home, and is comprised of 10 acres of certified organic farm land including a residence for the farmers, a native habitat for bees and other beneficial organisms, and two large hoop houses, and even raises organically fed, free-range chickens.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners does hereby recognize and honor the 10th Anniversary of Growing Home’s first farm.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT this text be spread upon the proceedings of this Honorable Body and that a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Growing Home in honor of this auspicious occasion.