Youth Leadership Program with Green Village Initiative
Green Village Initiative’s Youth Leadership Program strived to cultivate young food leaders in Bridgeport by developing skills in agricultural knowledge, food justice, career readiness, and leadership. These skills were achieved through participation in the Summer Youth Crew and Academic Year Fellowships which spanned many years and saw the participation of many talented young leaders. Youth helped determine their role in the food system by forging meaningful connections with their neighbors, land, community, and city.
We are so proud of all of the youth who were a part of these programs and can’t wait to see them continue to create positive change in the network of urban farmers and gardeners in Bridgeport and beyond.
In 2024, GVI is collaborating with Groundwork Bridgeport (GWB) to support a Youth Leadership program focusing on youth development, nutrition, farming, and leadership in and around Bridgeport this spring and summer!
This program is funded by a Newman’s Own Foundation Grant awarded to GVI. Thank you, Newman’s Own!
This funding will help the youth program participants build gardens at 3 early education and care facilities in Bridgeport. The youth leaders will install 4 vegetable garden hexabeds in each location and provide support and training to tend the crops and include the gardens in the children’s educational curriculum!
GVI, GWB and Housatonic Community College (HCC) will also support the youth leadership program in HCC’s Agriculture lab with a class on hydroponics. This opportunity is possible thanks to funding from M&T Charitable Foundation’s Amplify Fund grant, awarded to HCC. Classes will start in April 2024 and continue for 7 weeks!
Youth Summer Crew
Our Youth Leadership Program cultivated young leaders of community change through a summer program in agriculture, job-readiness, food justice, and organizing. Skill-building workshops include community organizing, advocacy, youth identities and voices, and food systems. Beginning in 2020 GVI partnered with Housatonic Community College to offer our youth college credits for completing the summer program.
The City of Bridgeport and Mayor Ganim designated October 3rd, 2016 Bridgeport's Food Leader Day as a result of our youth's impact on the city. In 2016, our youth completed 1,380 hours of farming and 300 hours of food justice and leadership skill building.
Some of the skills gained from summer program:
Harvest, process, weigh, and package organically grown produce.
Insect identification.
Food Safety Certification.
Public speaking through giving tours to outside groups, peers, and children.
Leading volunteer groups.
Plant and crop identification and harvesting measures (for example, how to water properly, when to tell if the crop is ready for harvest, if the crop is healthy, how to plant all different kinds of vegetables).
College Readiness and Increased Employability.
Working with community farmers, gardeners, and members.
Building urban garden/garden beds.
