Faith Farms and Lake County’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance are partnering to bring middle and high school students closer to urban agriculture this spring and summer.
“It’s about building relationships, and it’s about learning how to communicate,” said Dr. Tifany Jamison, program director for Families Anchored in Total Harmony CDC’s Next Urban Agriculture Generation JUMP Program. “It’s about learning a skillset that they can take with them throughout life.”
The NUAG JUMP program is in its fifth year, Jamison said, but this is the first time My Brother’s Keeper of Lake County will help. The program is open to students in sixth through 12th grades, and it provides participants with hands-on training in gardening, composting and sustainable farming, according to a news release.
“Our whole goal with this is really to get them interested in agriculture and really empowered in their own communities,” Jamison said. “We’re going to teach them what resources they have in areas, like Gary, that might not necessarily have easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables.”
The youth program takes place from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturdays, starting April 4 and ending May 23. Participants are also eligible for a paid summer internship, where they could make $15 per hour and work 8 to 11 a.m. three days a week.
The internship’s first cohort runs from June 1 to June 26, and the second runs from July 6 to July 31. All sessions will take place at Faith Farms, 656 Carolina Street in Gary.
“We’re teaching them to go out and teach others about agriculture,” Jamison said. “But we also want them to know that this can be a career, and it’s not one-sided.”
Jamison has been director of the program for four years, she said, and three of her children have participated. Watching her children benefit from the program makes it more special to Jamison, she said.
“My son is actually majoring in agriculture now,” Jamison said. “Before, I never thought that would be what he would do. But, it’s because he did so well with the program. When you see your own kids benefit from something, and it piques their interest, it does for you as well.”
Jamison expects about 50 students to participate in this year’s program, she said. My Brother’s Keeper is expected to help bring in about 20 students.
Karen Bishop Morris, chief development and communications officer for Edgewater Health, said the organization has an ongoing relationship with Faith Farms. Edgewater Health is “the backbone” of My Brother’s Keeper, and it was a natural extension for the group to also partner with Faith Farms.
My Brother’s Keeper was created by the Barack Obama Foundation to provide better opportunities for young men of color nationwide, according to its website. The Obama Foundation created My Brother’s Keeper after the death of Trayvon Martin in February 2012, and the group has locations nationwide that advocate for education and childcare.
Bishop Morris said My Brother’s Keeper has six milestones for young men of color to achieve while in school.
“The population that NUAG addresses is perfect for the six milestones that we address,” Bishop Morris added. “The NUAG program is really deeply rooted … in education and STEM-focused outcomes, and that was quite appealing because it’s a great pathway for boys and young men to get involved in to learn about sustainability and more about their communities.”
Partnering with local organizations like Faith Farms is crucial for the success of My Brother’s Keeper and young men in the community, Bishop Morris said.
“The only way we can have that kind of systemic change is to bring together all kinds of knowledge and talents,” she said. “(The NUAG and My Brother’s Keeper partnership) is so much more than agriculture. These students are gaining hands-on urban farming skills that translate directly into opportunity, learning sustainable growing practices, food production and the business of feeding communities.”
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