Mission and Vision
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.
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.
Our Team
Staff
Janelle St. John
Executive Director
Marlene Ceja
Director of Development
Fred Daniels
Urban Farm Site Manager
LaQuandra Fair
Community Engagement Coordinator
Sonia Garcia
Farm Sales Associate
Shenika Jackson
Case Management Coordinator
Stephen McCary
Farm and Program Associate
Devin Middleton
Corporate and Foundation Coordinator
Megan Morrison
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Amelia Nawn
Program Operations Coordinator
Ursula Phillips-Levi
Employment Training and Community Engagement Associate
Jaclyn Santi
Employment Training Coordinator
Shani Settles
Director of Operations
Zenobia Williams
Employment Training Director
Board of Directors
Lynn Sheck
Board President
Finicity, Senior Vice President
Karl Riley
Board Vice President
Fifth Third Bank, Business Banking Officer
Stewart Weiss
Board Vice President
Elrod Friedman LLP, Founding Partner
Steve Stanley
Board Secretary
Pastor and Community Organizer
Shawn Boone
Board Treasurer
PNC Bank, AVP Branch Manager
Judith Aronson, PhD
Psychotherapist
Jennifer Ballard Croft
Cook County State’s Attorney, Chief of Staff & Chief Diversity Officer
Chasity Boyce
Heitman, Vice President, Head of Diversity and
Inclusion
Foster Dale
Foster Dale Architects, Inc., Principal
Stephen Gates
Accenture, Senior Manager, Midwest SAP Program Delivery
Dan Kaplan
American Library Association, Marketing Manager
Pascale Kichler
DePaul University, Lecturer, French Department
Micheál Newman-Brooks
City of Chicago, Department of Planning & Development, Project Management of Urban Agriculture
Kevin Swan
United Senior Services, General Manager
Toni Thompson
U.S. Bank, Vice President
Laura Tilly
Attorney, Retired
Marny Zimmer
Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Special Prosecutor, Crimes Strategy Task Force
Associate Board
Mackenzie Canfield
Board co-chair
Inspiration Corporation, Employment Preparation & Placement Specialist
Emily Steinhauer
Board co-chair
Top Box Foods, Delivery Coordinator
Rashanah Baldwin
Journalist & Multimedia Consultant. Baldwin Media Group.
Mark Bourdenko
The Chartis Group, Consultant
Charlotte Cottier
Campbell & Company, Nonprofit Communications Consultant
Dillon Flynn
Invenergy, Control Room Operator
Tabitha Humphries
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Attorney
Larissa Mariano
Chicago Community Trust, Executive Assistant
Olivia Rath
Deloitte, Consultant
Liz Rosenthal
DigitasLBi, Project Manager
Kim Smith
University of Chicago Urban Labs, Sr. Research Manager
Marie Stringer
Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, Development & Communications Manager
Ashima Talwar
Sperling & Slater, P.C., Attorney
Katharine Uhrich
The Field Museum, Social Media Manager
Leadership Council
Diana Leifer
Amy Rynell
Anton Seals Jr.
Barbara Wallace
Betsy Gates-Alford
Carolyn Zehrer
Colleen Sheehan
Deborah Bennett
Ivan Handler
Lauren Rosenthal
Lauri Alpern
Lisa Leib
Nicole Wagner
Orrin Williams
Perry Gunn
Philip Hong
Ted Kennedy
Travis Moyer