CommunityGrows

CommunityGrows is an environmental education program serving high-needs youth, especially those living in public housing in San Francisco. Youth acquire the necessary skills to live a healthy life through garden education, nutritious cooking and eating, and green jobs training.

We believe all youth can be empowered to grow into healthy, non-violent, successful adults and environmentalists. We believe through gardening, cooking and green-jobs training, youth will acquire the skills to give back to their communities and become leaders and teachers.

CommunityGrows, formerly Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks Group (HVNPG), was founded in 1994 in response to the need to replace the heavy presence of drug dealing and prostitution in local parks with activities and gardens enjoyed by families and local residents.

Over the years, this community-based organization has successfully transformed five parks into a welcoming oasis in the midst of the realities of an urban environment. Now that these parks have been renovated, our mission continues to focus on stewardship and community building through youth programs.

In fact we are continuing to plant seeds of peace through environmental education, cooking classes and green job training for youth, especially young people most at-risk of becoming victims of violence and/or of childhood obesity in the Western Addition.

Most of our youth come from the many housing developments in the Western Addition of San Francisco. We have a small staff, but are supported by over 500 community volunteers each year. Some of our programs include Environmental Education classes with students at John Muir Elementary School and Rosa Parks Elementary School, and numerous San Francisco High Schools; a LetUsGrow Summer Camp for middle school youth, a summer program serving nine youth-based contracts; Seed-to-Mouth Cooking Classes at Hayes Valley Apartments; community workdays; and our BEETS (Band of Environmentally Educated and Employable Teens) Program, a stipended environmental education/green jobs training program for 15 youth ages 13-18 years old.

CommunityGrows Fundraiser

This garden fundraiser on Saturday, October 16th from 12 noon to 5 PM (volunteer time) for CommunityGrows will showcase our youth gardening, cooking and green jobs programs, and celebrate the great work we are doing. There will be live music by Tiny Home and Diana Gameros, delicious local food, performances by the youth we serve, a silent auction and great company. Please join us for a fun afternoon!

We will need people to arrive at 12 noon on the day of the event to help us set-up.  Some of the volunteer jobs will be: set-up (getting the garden cleaned up and ready, tables, chairs, food and silent auction set up).  We also need people to direct cars in the school yard, sign people in, sell tickets, write name tags, monitor the food or silent auction tables, and help us clean up in the end, taking down the tables, etc, and packing up.

The party will be in the Koshland Park Community Learning Garden at the east end of Koshland Park in San Francisco, on the corner of Page and Buchanan Streets.  Koshland Park is one block from MUNI stops #6, #7, #66, #72, #77 on Haight and Buchanan. Parking for the event will be at John Muir School Yard at 450 Page Street.