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Inspiring healthy living, economic opportunity, and community empowerment in Englewood

Mission and Vision

We believe everyone deserves to have a good job, and everyone deserves to eat well.

That’s why we’ve been helping people find meaningful careers through skills learned while farming since 2002. Growing Home is Chicago’s leading expert in farm-based training for people with employment barriers. By providing 25 hours per week of paid on-the-job experience and job-readiness training at our farms, plus the support to conquer issues like criminal records, medical needs, child-care, and housing, we have changed the lives of hundreds of workers, and thousands of their family members.

We start people on the path to self-sufficiency. When people have jobs, they have economic stability in their lives; this stability allows for healthy people and families. But we don’t stop there: we use our unique model to impact neighborhoods with the greatest need. That’s why our farms are located in Englewood, a community on the South side of Chicago that has been under-served for decades and has extremely high rates of unemployment and poverty, hundreds of acres of vacant lots, and a distinct lack of healthy food choices.

When communities have access to healthy food options, the overall well-being and health of the residents improves. With economic resources and physical health, neighbors are more able to participate in the rejuvenation of their community.

To help people find meaningful, sustaining careers, we train them in job skills, give them real work experience, and support them while they begin their careers by helping with job placement and life-planning. We not only provide the support people need to succeed, but also the space to define what success means to them. To transform our community, we offer our produce to our neighbors at significantly reduced prices, advocate for the issues impacting Englewood, and open up our space for trainings, workshops, and more.

Learn more about our impact.

Learn about our Core Values.

Milestones

1992

Les Brown, founder of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, has a vision to help homeless Chicagoans gain job skills and rebuild their confidence through farming.

2002

Nine people enroll as participants in Growing Home’s first year of training.

2006

Development begins on the Wood Street Urban Farm and the job training program finds a permanent home in Englewood. The first 100 Production Assistants complete the training program.

2011

In part due to Growing Home’s precedent-setting Wood Street Farm, the City of Chicago passes a new ordinance making the establishment of an urban farm less daunting and more efficient for others. Growing Home’s Honore Street Farm is the first farm to open under the new ordinance.

2013

Growing Home is chosen as the winner of the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Award, and, at the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards, is named as the Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Strategy of the Year.

2014

Growing Home solidifies a partnership with Cabrini Green Legal Aid to help Production Assistants seal or expunge their criminal records, a primary employment barrier, and to offer legal assistance with housing, child custody, and other civil pursuits affecting their ability to succeed.

People without jobs are often without roots. They’re not tied down, not connected, not part of their family anymore. Our organic farming program is a way for them to connect with nature—to plant and nurture roots over a period of time. When you get involved in taking responsibility for caring for something, creating an environment that produces growth, then it helps you build self-esteem and feel more connected.

Les Brown, Founder of Growing Home

Our Team

Staff

Learn more about our Growing Home Staff here.

Janelle St. John

Executive Director

Natalie Archie

Controller

Jakob Chybowski

Accountant

Mary Devo

IT Specialist

Janice Ellis

Workforce Development Specialist

LaQuandra Fair

Community Engagement Coordinator

Sonia Garcia

Farm Sales Associate

Ezra Lee

Farm & Program Manager

Daniel Mackey

Workforce Development Manager

Andre Morgan

Farm Market Associate

Megan Morrison

Communications and Development Manager

Rojas Oliva

Farm and Program Educator

Ursula Phillips-Levi

Employment Training and Community Engagement Associate

Courtney Richardson

Workforce Development Specialist

Mawiyah Stewart

Executive Support Administrative Assistant

Kenn Strickland

Training and Development Specialist

Anna Sumska

Farm and Program Educator

Jovan Wade

Farm and Program Educator

Zenobia Williams

Director of Employment Training

Board of Directors

Learn more about our Board of Directors here.

Karl Riley

Board President
5/3rd Bank, VP, Small Business Community Lender

Micheál Newman-Brooks

Board Vice President
Horticulturalist

Shawn Boone

Board Treasurer
PNC Bank, AVP Branch Manager

Dan Kaplan

Board Secretary
American Library Association, Marketing Manager

Joyce Donaly

BMO Harris

Stephen Gates

Accenture, Senior Manager, Midwest SAP Program Delivery

Katie Hill

Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter, Partner

Joe Niemec

Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Securities

Colette Payne

Director, Reclamation Project

Lynn Sheck

Past Board President
Finicity, Senior Vice President

Steve Stanley

Pastor & Community Organizer

Kevin Swan

United Senior Services, General Manager

James Thompson

Physician, Senior Partner & Vice President, Associated Allergists & Asthma Specialists

Toni Thompson

U.S. Bank, Vice President

Stewart Weiss

Elrod Friedman LLP, Founding Partner

Associate Board

Learn more about our Associate Board Members here.

Rashanah Baldwin

Board Chair
Journalist & Multimedia Consultant. Baldwin Media Group.

Tina Huang

Deloitte

Emma Cameron

Wellness & Yoga Consultant

Sarah Locklund

Director of Partnerships & Marketing, Leafwell

Olivia Rath

Deloitte, Consultant

Hannah Tate

Vital Proteins, Retail Marketing Manager

Emma Wolfe

Kearney

Jared Sagoff

Argonne National Laboratory, Coordinating Writer/Editor

Courtney Taylor

Executive Legal Assistant

Brendan Troutman

Roseland Hospital

Cate Stuart

Chicago Winery

Leadership Council

Diana Leifer

 

Amy Rynell

 

Anton Seals Jr.

 

Barbara Wallace

 

Betsy Gates-Alford
Carolyn Zehrer

 

Colleen Sheehan

 

Deborah Bennett

 

Erika Allen

 

Foster Dale

 

Ivan Handler
Judith Aronson, PhD

 

Lauren Rosenthal

 

Lauri Alpern

 

Lisa Leib

 

Nicole Wagner

 

Orrin Williams
Paula Carney

 

Perry Gunn

 

Philip Hong

 

Sebastian White

 

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