Urban garden grows new lives for ex-cons
source: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/urban.garden.ex.2.1598201.html
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- JanforGore
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Growing food. Working in the soil. Bringing trees to Chicago neighborhoods, one block at a time. That's the focus of one inner-city organization with a garden in one of Chicago's toughest areas.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov spent some time there today - with young gardeners who went from working in a prison to working on that farm.
Their work takes place on a corner lot, across from Humboldt Park. It's being farmed by a group called the Cob Connection and its young farmers.
"There's no question in my mind," says Cob Connection's Urban Farm Manager, Noah Swinney Stein. "Food is one of those things that can bring anybody together."
Twenty-two-year-old Justin Quinones is one of the interns. He, like his fellow Cob Connection farmers, is an ex-con. He says tilling the earth has calmed him down after he was sent to prison for armed robbery when he was just 17.
Workforce development is part of the group's purpose. They've received stimulus money through the city to take apple saplings, plant them in city neighborhoods and teach people how to care for and share them while growing other food, too. It's called the CommuniTree Project, and these men will help see it through.
"We all know that we've all needed our second, third, maybe our fourth, chance to be able to do things right in our lives," Stain said.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov spent some time there today - with young gardeners who went from working in a prison to working on that farm.
Their work takes place on a corner lot, across from Humboldt Park. It's being farmed by a group called the Cob Connection and its young farmers.
"There's no question in my mind," says Cob Connection's Urban Farm Manager, Noah Swinney Stein. "Food is one of those things that can bring anybody together."
Twenty-two-year-old Justin Quinones is one of the interns. He, like his fellow Cob Connection farmers, is an ex-con. He says tilling the earth has calmed him down after he was sent to prison for armed robbery when he was just 17.
Workforce development is part of the group's purpose. They've received stimulus money through the city to take apple saplings, plant them in city neighborhoods and teach people how to care for and share them while growing other food, too. It's called the CommuniTree Project, and these men will help see it through.
"We all know that we've all needed our second, third, maybe our fourth, chance to be able to do things right in our lives," Stain said.
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- groups:
- Community, Green, Sustainable Agriculture, Earth Care
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- tags:
- Environment, Education, Chicago, Trees, 1 more
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JanforGore
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Rehabilitation through sustainable agriculture. A win-win.
- 2 years ago
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JanforGore
