Spring Earn2Learn Results!
Earn2Learn, our seasonal gardening program, came to a close in time for the summer heat! Thirteen kids contributed to harvesting the City of Dreams garden, with excitement spreading across the site every gardening session!
Earn2Learn is our gardening and financial literacy program that spans over a 6 week period several times throughout the year. The youth are taught basic farming skills, the growth cycle of a plant, how to cultivate and harvest their plants, and at the end of every week, receive financial compensation. The weekly stipend introduces the youth to concepts like saving, the ownership of money, and identifying wants versus needs in everyday items. Providing a stipend gives recognition to the value of their work.
This season, the program aimed to teach the youth how to plant lettuce, spinach, kale, black beans, artichokes, strawberries, and how to harvest berries. A need for small renovations around the garden began to appear over the winter, so the youth took it upon themselves to clear a path for visitors by removing the fennel and learning how to sheet mulch.
Program Director, Kareem, listed the types of plants, vegetables, and fruits the youth gathered during this spring’s Earn2Learn:
Strawberries
Swiss Chard
Purple potatoes
Lemons
The following were planted by the City of Dreams youth over the last 6 weeks:
Strawberries
Artichokes
Black Beans
Lettuce
Kale
Spinach
Purple Potatoes
Earn2Learn is a once-a-week program meant to engage the youth’s patience for something as slow-moving as farming. Earn2Learn participants from the past have reaped the benefits of this patience, often cooking meals with their own harvested ingredients or sharing with the Bayview community. See our youth learn cooking basics from Earn2Learn harvests here!
Kareem observed the youth’s shifting attitudes as this season progressed: "We host E2L once a week, but every day I've been onsite the youth have asked for ways they can help beautify the garden, so I think there is a real sense of ownership the kids are gaining for this space.”
Earn2Learn’s approach is all-encompassing. We aim to share sustainable skills for the health of the youth and their choices in the future. We believe that instilling pride and positive recognition can raise their self esteem and autonomy. This season’s Earn2Learn is over, but the kids are remaining diligent throughout this new growth cycle!
Our garden remains healthy during the off season because of our volunteers, some of which include:
Prometheus Apartments
Hines
Levi Straus & Co.
Prologis
Habitat for Humanity
To volunteer in the City of Dreams Garden, visit www.cityofdreams.org/volunteer or to sponsor the next Earn2Learn session visit, www.cityofdreams.org/earn2learn-gardening