Growing Home's training program helps transform lives.

The US job market shed 438,000 jobs in the first half of 2008. Individuals with barriers to employment – those who have been previously incarcerated, homeless, or have had substance abuse issues – are at a great disadvantage. Not only does their background or the blank spot on a resume left by a period of incarceration make it hard for them to find employment, but these individuals are also often without job skills or are unprepared for the workplace.

Our  job training program lasts seven months: from April to October. This  period allows participants to train throughout an entire growing season so that they have the chance to see the entire farming process from seed to sale. Interns spend four days per week with our staff and have the chance to work at each of our farm sites. Twice per week, groups travel from Chicago to the Les Brown Memorial Farm in Marseilles, IL.

 Participants work through a curriculum that focuses on skills such as planting, cultivating, and harvesting organically, and also food and nutrition education, and basic life skills, including personal money management. In addition, they learn marketing and sales skills and have the chance to practice them when they take their turn working at our booths at the Green City Market and Englewood Farmer’s Market, as well as our farm stand at the Wood Street Urban Farm.

Through a partnership with Kennedy King College, Growing Home program participants have the opportunity to take free GED-preparation courses, and many interns graduate from our program and continue on to finish the GED, enter college, or enroll in other skills training programs.

If you are interested in becoming a Growing Home intern, please read the For Applicants page.

If you would like to help Growing Home's interns transform their lives, make a donation now.