Final report for LNE22-440
Project Information
Opportunity and Justification
Urban farms serve multiple purposes for their surrounding community; they are often a hub of neighborhood vibrancy and, especially in the case of many immigrant communities, a source of healthy and culturally familiar food. The Immigrant Urban Farmer Project, located in the South Bronx and Queens, New York, assisted immigrants with agricultural backgrounds in building their farming careers.
Immigrants face limited mobility in the sector due to English language level, training costs, prerequisites, business linkages, and unequal access to formal farm technical skills. To get a job with agriculture or farm organizations or enter a farm business program, farmers need to show proof of skill and experience on a farm. Without a strong network and transferable experience, many aspiring farmers struggle to secure a suitable financial pathway.
In this program, 40 aspiring farmers received urban farm training that is accessible and allowed them to develop and demonstrate their skills. The International Rescue Committee in New York (IRC in NY), a refugee- and immigrant-serving organization, developed this project in response to almost a decade of experience working with immigrants and migrants to successfully build their workforce skills through culturally and linguistically appropriate farm-based training.
Approach
The Immigrant Urban Farmer project was run by the Economic Empowerment (EE) unit at IRC in NY, which included an EE Manager, an Agriculture Coordinator, and Agriculture Specialists. The project used a three-pronged model to empower beginning and aspiring immigrant farmers to enter the urban agriculture workforce with confidence, skills for self-advocacy, and connections that can help them grow their careers. First, the project engaged existing and aspiring farmers in hands-on and linguistically skill-appropriate training workshops in relevant areas of sustainable urban agriculture and business development provided by IRC in NY and local partners. Second, participants of the farmer training course took part in “farm stewardship” practicum at our New Roots farm in the Bronx. The project supported the farm stewards through ongoing training and support in management and leadership topics, including career development. Finally, our partners connected participants with urban farming employment and enterprise development opportunities, setting them up for further advancement in their agricultural careers.
Most farm training programs require farm experience to enroll, require intermediate-advanced English, and offer limited scholarships. By contrast, the Immigrant Urban Farmer project training program accounted for participants’ linguistic barriers by providing interpretation services in workshops and throughout the steward practicum. The elimination of a US-based farming prerequisite to join this program truly enabled immigrant and refugee participants to benefit from this learning, which serves as a bridge to their success.
In summary, a total of 40 individuals were positively impacted by the IRC NY Urban Immigrant Farmers Training program. The IRC NY is grateful to the SARE for funding this project, which helped the IRC NY create an engaged learning opportunity for aspiring farmers in our community.
50 beginning and aspiring immigrant farmers will engage in on-farm training, resulting in at least 37 of them (75%) reporting increased financial savings and improved health (via annual survey tool). Of these, 22 (60%) farmers involved in intensive training and stewardships will pursue income-earning or advanced skill training opportunities related to their local food system.
Pathways to agricultural pursuits for urban communities can be uncertain. Agriculture-oriented resource allocation tends to be directed to rural areas, and professional development initiatives in urban areas often leave out agricultural skills and enterprises. This creates a challenge in accessing a clear pathway into the agriculture industry for aspiring urban farmers. For refugee, immigrant, and migrant populations, this pathway is even less certain. While this population can be particularly well suited for urban agriculture, as many have transferable skills from their home country that can be applied in a U.S. urban agriculture context, they require additional support services that most professional development opportunities do not provide. By providing a pathway for immigrants to participate in the agricultural workforce, the Urban Immigrant Farmers Project positioned aspiring farmers to overcome key vocational barriers in earning income via the agricultural sector and supported a new network of inspired urban farmers.
Cooperators
Research
Education
3 program components:
Agriculture Skills Training (AST): Training will total 60 hours from March-October for 15 participants annually.
Farm Stewardship (FS): Participants are placed in a farm apprenticeship at a local community garden, working under a farm supervisor selected based on learning goals participants identify throughout trainings.
Continuing Education Workshops (CEW): Monthly workshops focused on professional development topics identified by the IRC, CCE, and participants.
Engagement:
AST: Outreach will be conducted for annual cohorts amongst IRC’s extensive network of community partners, urban farms/gardens, and existing client base. IRC will develop and share outreach materials and host information sessions for prospective participants.
IRC will intake prospective applicants, gathering information on household, schedule preference, supportive services needed to participate, and goals related to careers as agriculture professionals. Applicants will sign a participant and stipend agreement detailing program expectations, including attendance and stewardship requirements. Applicants will receive stipends if they maintain an attendance rate of 85% at all workshops and complete the required 80 stewardship hours.
IRC staff will meet with trainees monthly to review and reassess learning goals, program process, and troubleshoot challenges. Following training, participants will be connected with additional career resources, including employment opportunities, small business development resources, and educational opportunities.
FS: Stewardship host sites will be identified through IRC’s existing network of urban farm partners, Bronx Greenup participants and Greenthumb partner sites. Stewardship supervisors will receive supervision guidance training and curriculum, and will record hours and steward learning assessments. IRC will connect with host sites every other month to provide support.
CEW: Workshops will take place monthly from May-October. IRC will reach out to agriculture professionals to facilitate workshops. Attendee outreach will be conducted amongst aspiring farmers at participating steward host sites and other urban farms/gardens.
Learning:
AST & FS: 15 participants complete 60 training hours annually. Topics include: Introduction to food systems; food justice; Crop planning and rotation; Seed Starting; IPM, crop and pest management; soil health and irrigation; composting; Food Handling and Safety; training of trainers; community program facilitation; careers and specializations in agriculture; Farm Visits. Curriculum will be developed by CCE and IRC, with input from the advisory council. Teaching will be experiential and hands on, a methodology proven to be most effective for English Language Learners. Classes will focus on participants’ ability to apply learned knowledge and skills in an agriculture setting. Interpretation will be provided and materials translated into participant languages where available.
FS: Participants will apply learnings in a farm setting. After the 1st month of training, participants will be matched with their steward site and begin working 4 hours weekly totaling 80 hours. Steward host sites will receive course curriculum and core competency assessment.
CEW: IRC will coordinate monthly workshops focusing on continuing professional development topics as identified by participants. These will be co-facilitated by agriculture industry professionals and open to other aspiring farmers participating in local farming initiatives. In the workshops, participants can share experiences and continue developing skills within their community.
Evaluation:
Participant outcomes will be tracked in IRC’s case management database Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) and in an excel spreadsheet. In ETO, IRC will track participants’ basic information, case note discussions, program services, and career goals during enrollment intake. The spreadsheet will track workshop attendance, participant learning assessments, and steward hours. Steward hours will be recorded on a Google Sheets document accessible to urban farm host sites.
AST: Training participants will receive a pre-training and post-training assessment, developed by IRC’s F&A Coordinator and CCE, to rank their knowledge of training content. This will be used to measure knowledge and skill gain throughout the course.
FS: Steward supervisors will adopt the IRC’s farmer skills benchmarking tool, which covers 9 areas of competency to assess participants’ growth in areas deemed most vital to farm management. Supervisors will review these competencies during check-ins at mid-point and end of program to review progress and set continued learning goals.
CEW: Evaluations will be provided at the end of workshops to elicit participants’ feedback on course development, workshop feedback, and self-evaluation.
Participants will provide feedback on program structure via evaluation surveys, including: training schedule, teaching methodology, language need, stewardship, and support from program staff. Feedback will occur mid-way through the program to adjust accordingly and at program completion.
At program completion, IRC staff will meet with participants to identify next steps in pursuing their farming learning goals (created during intake), devise an action plan, and share additional resources. Participants will be contacted 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after program completion to review progress.
Milestones
1. Learning:
IRC and CCE will meet to develop a full course curriculum, including lesson plans, training activities, knowledge pre- and post-assessments, and steward core competencies by May. Advisory committee will assist in reviewing materials and share feedback on program design by May. Course materials, handouts, and activities will then be shared with IRC trained interpreters to translate into participants' native languages by end of April. The curriculum will be saved in a shared program folder by the IRC EE Manager and Sheryll Durrant, IRC Food and Agriculture Coordinator. Completed in 2023.
Status: Completed
Accomplishments: The curriculum was developed in partnership with Horticulture NYC, with support from CCE, and translated into Spanish to accommodate participant language needs. (Syllabus.HortNYC.Esp , Syllabus.HortNYC)
In 2024, the IRC New York New Roots team adapted the curriculum to add optional practicum courses, adding an extra day to the course on Fridays. These additional courses included ethnobotany, community engagement, and food safety. This additional offering helped us rebuild and improve the quality of our bioswale.
2. Engagement:
25 partner organizations, farms, and gardens outreached about the program through email of flyers and presentations at local organization meetings. This will occur in April of year 1 and March of year 2. This will be tracked by Sheryll Durrant (Food and Agriculture Coordinator) via an outreach tracker. Completed by end of April in 2022 and the end of March in 2023.
Status: Completed
Accomplishments: A total of 27 organizations were reached out to about the program. These organizations include: Restore NYC, Empowerment, Empower Her Network, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, New York Restoration Project, Emma’s Torch, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Apiary Studio, Field Form, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Bloom Craft, Big Dream Farm, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Community College, Urban Horticulture Leaders, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Greenwood Cemetery, Perfect Earth Project, Longwood Gardens, and BIPOC hort. In year 3, the IRC New York New Roots team contacted BronxWorks, Ariva, Montefiore Hospital, Community Access, Lower East Side Ecology, Bronx River Alliance, and Why Hunger.
3. Engagement and Learning:
10 urban farms identified as stewardship host sites. Host sites will attend 2-hour training reviewing the program structure and ask sites to sign participant agreements. Host site commitment will be recorded through agreement and will be recorded by the EE Manager. Host sites committed by May 2023 and May 2024.
Status: Pivoted
Accomplishments:
In the beginning of the program, the IRC NY identified 10 urban farms as potential stewardship host sites, but only 5 sites expressed interest in the first year. In year two, the IRC NY worked to find sites that were more in line with the program and willing to partner with program members. However, in year three, we pivoted because there were ongoing challenges with engaging community gardens to create learning opportunities. Many community gardens do not operate at the same skill and capacity level as the New Roots or have a smaller organizational capacity to take on apprentices.
IRC NY successfully provided our own practicum component by increasing the farm’s open hours, allowing participants more time to practice.
While the program has ended, in 2025, we will continue to discuss with partners ways our participants can join partner with us on practicum opportunities.
4. Engagement:
30 aspiring farmers will attend information sessions and learn about training program objectives and requirements in April 2022 and February 2023. Information session attendance will be tracked in outreach tracker by IRC Food and Agriculture Specialists. Information sessions will be completed by April of 2022 and February of 2023.
Status: Completed
Accomplishments: In Year 1, 23 applicants expressed interest and received information on the program. In Year 2, this number increased to 81. In year 3, there was already a tremendous waitlist of over 90 people who expressed interest, with many people asking when this opportunity would be available again. We successfully posted about the program on social media and our e-mail mailing list. The New Roots team interviewed over 90 people to be engaged and considered in the year 3 cohort. Those candidates received a mini-information session as part of the interview process.
5. Engagement:
15 farmers will complete intake, enrollment, and participant agreement forms in March with IRC staff to formally enroll in program. Participant program enrollment will be recorded by IRC Food and Agriculture Specialist(s) in ETO database. Farmers complete intake / enrollment by April of 2022 and March of 2023.
Status: Completed
Accomplishments: In Year 1, 12 participants were enrolled, and in Year 2 of the program, 22 participants were enrolled, a total of 34 participants to date. These enrollments were recorded in ETO by the Food and Agriculture Specialist. Similar to year two, the IRC NY overenrolled 17 people, anticipating attrition for the final cohort. However, to our delight, people stayed. A total of 40 community members graduated from this Urban Immigrant Farmers Project.
6. Learning and Evaluation:
30 new or beginning immigrant farmers participate in a 60- hour agriculture training, with at least 85% graduation rate, and learn technical agriculture skills as identified in the education plan. There will be 1 class per week from May-October 2022 and 2023. Training attendance will be recorded by CCE or IRC instructor on attendance tracker and knowledge acquisition will be recorded by IRC staff in pre and post assessment, recorded in spreadsheet. Training completed in November 2022 and October 2023.
Status: Completed
Accomplishments: 12 participants engaged in monthly 4-hour Saturday sessions from April-November 2022 (35 hours of training). 5 participants successfully completed year 1. 22 participants engaged in monthly 5-hour trainings (65 hours of training in total) and 19 participants successfully completed the program. Year 2 saw an 86% graduation rate, but the overall graduation rate was 70.6%. The aim was to increase to 85% by the end of the project period. In year 3 the graduation rate was 82%. Two participants moved out of the city, which affected the graduation rate. One participant obtained employment and had scheduling conflicts, affecting their capacity to participate. These were unexpected variables. Our cumulative graduation rate was 78%.
7. Learning and Evaluation:
30 new or beginning farmers will participate in farm stewardship, with a schedule of 4 hours/week for a total of 80 hours from June through October/November (20 weeks). Stewards will apply the material learned in class to real-life farm management and core competencies will be assessed by the steward supervisor. Stewardship attendance and competencies will be recorded by steward supervisors via a GoogleSheet and saved in participant file by IRC Food and Agriculture Coordinator. Stewardships will be completed by November 2022 and October 2023.
Status: Completed
Accomplishments: 3 participants were engaged in a farm stewardship at Kelly Street Garden and New Roots itself as a “host site”, starting in year 3. The IRC had aimed to identify more host sites aligned with the program and anticipated completing this by the end of the project period to create stewardship opportunities. However, in year 3, we continued to have 5 land stewards, 2 of whom are program graduates. The IRC NY did not continue to search for additional host sites and instead enhanced the practicum component of the program so participants could get their real-world experience at the New Roots farm.
8. Evaluation:
30 new or beginning farmers will complete program evaluations midway (August) and at end of program (November) which will focus on program structure and continued support in training, stewardship, and towards meeting their learning goals. Evaluations will be completed via google forms or in-person during mid program check-in by IRC Food and Agriculture Specialists and recorded in excel spreadsheet. Evaluations will be reviewed by IRC and CCE to make any suggested changes to program structure. Evals will be completed at the end of August 2022 and 2023 and November 2022 and 2023.
Status: Completed
Accomplishments:
Status: Completed
Accomplishments: A formal evaluation system was rolled out in year 2, which incorporated in-person evaluation, a self-assessment survey developed with the New Roots technical advisor, and a final learning assessment to gauge students’ increased knowledge after the program. 18 participants in year 2 completed the program evaluation. The Food and Agriculture coordinator and program instructor reviewed participant feedback to adapt the program for the next cycle. In year 3, IRC NY decided to conduct formal online evaluations and received five responses.
9. Learning and Evaluation:
20 aspiring farmers (comprised of the IF course participants and selected farmer members from host sites, or invited by partners) will participate in supplemental agriculture workshops held monthly May-October and learn additional skills related to farm management. Participants will be provided with an evaluation post-training to give feedback on sessions and identify key learnings. The training schedule will be recorded by IRC Food and Agriculture Coordinator, attendance will be recorded in attendance tracker, and evaluations will be provided via google forms (if remote) or on paper and recorded on an excel spreadsheet. Ag workshops will be complete by November 2022 and October 2023.
Status: Completed
Accomplishments: Year 1 workshops included 3 onsite community workshops, 1 online community workshop and 3 offsite community field trips. No formal post evaluations were conducted for Year 1 workshops other than word-of-mouth feedback on these “pilots”. Year 2 workshops included 4 onsite workshops and 3 offsite field trips. In year 3 we hosted 15 community workshops and 4 cooking demonstrations. DK Kinard, our intern, provided the “Principles of Community Engagement” workshops that were open to the public where the program was discussed.
10. Evaluation:
10 steward farm host sites will complete post-program evaluation in October on program structure, benefits or stewardship model, and ways to improve for future trainings. Evaluations will be completed via google forms and will be recorded/analyzed in excel spreadsheet by the EE Manager, Sheryll Durrant, Food and Agriculture Coordinator, and CCE partners. Evaluations will be completed by November and program partners will meet in November to review. Host site evals will be completed by November 2024.
Status: Pivoted
Accomplishments:
As stated above, 5 host sites were reached and engaged in conversation (Cooper Street Community Garden, Green Patch, Finca del Sur, Kelly Street Garden, and Bissel Gardens) to become a host site. Of the five, Kelly Street welcomed 3 graduates. However, due to limited capacity for mentorship there, those graduates did not complete a practicum there and no “post-program” evaluation was administered. Given the limitations on host sites identified in year 1, we pivoted to offer our own practicum at the IRC Farm site with more targeted and ongoing mentorship for graduates. The evaluations described above took into account the additional practicum time that graduates had at the farm.
11. Evaluation:
Each year, 15 participants from the course cohort will receive continued support from IRC staff on pursuing their career goals related to farming and agriculture. Participants will be contacted upon completing the training to reevaluate their goals, develop an action plan, and connect with additional resources. Participants will meet with IRC staff end of October, end of November, January, and April to review progress towards goals. Meetings will be recorded in IRC’s ETO database. 1:1 support will be complete by end of October 2022 and 2023, November 2022 and 2023, January 2023 and 2024, and April 2023 and 2024.
Status: Completed
Accomplishments: During year 2, the IRC Economic Empowerment team provided a job readiness workshop to participants. This was an area of desired growth for the remainder of the program. The Food and Agriculture Coordinator and Economic Empowerment Senior Program Manager developed a plan to better incorporate career development services in this program. In year 3, participants were successfully referred to 1:1 career coaching and other wrap-around supports from the IRC, including ESL courses and free tax preparation. All participants were referred to Emma’s Torch to apply for their culinary training program.
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Educational activities:
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes
Target #1
37
attended 60 hours of farm training
n/a
# reported improvements in their mental health linked to time spent in the green space, alleviating climate anxiety
# participants felt better prepared to enter the workforce in the fields of horticulture, food, or a related field
# farmers reported that they obtained an income-earning job or advanced skill training opportunities related to their local food system.
40
40
n/a
40 reported improvements in their mental health linked to time spent in the green space, alleviating climate anxiety
20 participants felt better prepared to enter the workforce in the fields of horticulture, food, or a related field
4 farmers reported that they obtained an income-earning job or advanced skill training opportunities related to their local food system.
We measured program performance through pre and post evaluation and verified the following targets:
- # of applications per year
- # of community members who enrolled in the program
- We hit our enrollment target each year
- # of participants who successfully completed the program
- We over-enrolled as we assumed there would be some attrition but the attrition rate was lower than we expected, creating some minor budget challenges for paying out all the promised stipends.
Pre- and post-evaluations results:
- 100% of participants increased their understanding of food, environmental justice, and climate mitigation in green spaces
- 100% reported improvement in their mental health linked to time spent in the green space, alleviating climate anxiety
- 83% of participants indicated they improved their food production skills
- 94% of participants felt they had improved knowledge on soil care and remediation practices
- 94% of participants passed on their skills and knowledge acquired in the class to other people
- 89% of participants indicated improved knowledge on medicinal herbs and their uses
- 61% of participants had applied to a new job in food or horticulture
- 22% of participants started a new job in horticulture or food-related field
- 95% of participants felt better prepared to enter the workforce in the fields of horticulture, food, or a related field
- 88% of participants had widened their professional network through the program
- 83% of participants indicated they improved their public speaking skills
- 61% of participants had joined a garden or started their own garden
Additional Project Outcomes
Year 1 Update
1. Piloted the training program: The anticipated training partner (Cornell) was unable to produce the desired training in 2022. The IRC in NY therefore worked with an expert from HortNYC to conduct a "pilot" training course with 12 participants. Out of this experience and reflection, the IRC in NY has been able to pull together a course for 2023, which already has over 44 applicants. The IRC in NY is in the process of selecting cohort members and anticipates re-allocating the subaward budget among the group of trainers (from HortNYC, Cornell, and others) accordingly.
2. To date, 13 community workshops have been held which served to help better understand the interests and needs of the community, and broaden participants’ knowledge on farming techniques.
3. The IRC has developed and employed a comprehensive evaluation plan with the support of their internal technical advisor.
4. A full curriculum has been developed for the 35-hour intensive course program in partnership with Horticulture NYC, supported by Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Final Report
Over the last two years, we had close to 200 applications for a total of 30 slots. There is a strong demand for this type of programming in the community, and we regularly receive messages on our social media channels about when the next application period will be.
One of our intended objectives of the Urban Immigrant Farmers Project was to create a host-site learning opportunity for our participants to expand their knowledge and access more community gardens in the city. As mentioned, there were challenges with engaging community gardens. Many community gardens do not operate at the same level of skill and capacity that New Roots does. They did not have the organizational capacity to take on apprentices. Additionally, some gardens can be insular and were not welcoming to new community members. Without good options for participants to find internships in other gardens, we pivoted by building up the practicum component of the program at New Roots and increased the farm’s open hours. This allowed participants to gain hands-on experience at New Roots itself.
- Six participants have successfully gained employment in the farming and agriculture sector. Places of employment include New York Restoration Project (NYRP), Bronx is Blooming, New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), East NY Farms, Chefs for Impact, as well as employment with an edible schoolyard, garden company, and florist. Other participants are actively looking for jobs.
- One participant moved to Florida where she hopes to grow more herbs for her herbal company.
- A former student is working towards a driver’s license, one of the biggest hurdles for native New Yorkers who want to work in the urban farm or garden sector. Being able to drive is instrumental to picking up supplies and transporting them to the farm as well as accessing regional farms upstate.
- Another student made a shift from working in housing to garden based education. They are also working towards a compost certification.
Success from the last year:
- On great success is that several graduates of our program have gone on to apply to the Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Community Garden Leadership Program (linked here: https://cals.cornell.edu/cornell-cooperative-extension/community-garden-leadership-p. One person was accepted to this program and we look forward to checking in on their progress.
- One graduate of the program, was hired as an intern coordinator supervising our youth gardening program serving migrant youth.
- One of the major achievements of the program was that Kama Doucoure, a graduate of the program, went on to participate in Glynnwood’s farm business incubator program and successfully started his own farm. Two additional participants of our program also applied to Glynnwood for an apprenticeship program this year. The program has been extremely in demand – in 2023 and 2024 there were nearly 200 applications, demonstrating a keen interest for urban agriculture, horticulture, food justice and sovereignty, and climate-sustainable agriculture in the community. There is a clear need for programs like our Urban Immigrant Farmers Project to make skills training and readiness accessible to support entry into these opportunities in New York City.
The International Rescue Committee in New York’s (IRC NY) Urban Immigrant Farmers Training Project was implemented by the New Roots team and its key partners. The following is a summary of the project’s educational approaches, outreach & recruitment process, and career supports that lead to key milestones throughout the project period.
Outreach & Recruitment Process: In total 27 partner organizations, farms, and gardens were outreached through emails, flyers, and presentations at local organization meetings. People also found out about the project from past participants who were integral to our recruitment process. Recruitment was a great success for this program due to how many organizations joined us in our efforts. The full breakdown of enrollment and completion is as follow:
- Year 1 – 12 people enrolled, 5 completed
- Year 2 - 22 people enrolled, 21 completed
- Year 3 - 17 people enrolled, 14 completed
We successfully posted about the program on social media and our e-mail list. In the first year of the pilot, we had 12 applications, in the second year we interviewed 79 applicants, and in the final year, the New Roots team interviewed over 90 people to be considered for the last cohort. We interviewed every applicant to date, but that was a stretch for our capacity. Due to the popularity of this program, we will revise our selection process for future steward training programs and utilize a rubric for scoring applications and only interview top candidates.
Practicum Approach: In year two, the two key growth area was to establish farm stewardship host sites for participant engagement, to give participants a space to practice their skills. Though host sites were identified, only five expressed interest but were unable to provide a practicum opportunity. In year three, we pivoted and offered a practicum component into our New Roots farm by increasing the farm’s open hours for graduates to practice. Because there weren’t many viable options for participants to find internships in other gardens, our in-house practicum at the New Roots farm allowed us to deliver a focused and quality experience that truly improved their agriculture and leadership skills in farm management. In year three, participants’ core competencies were assessed by Jason Gaspar from NYRP, who served as a steward supervisor. At the end of the practicum, participants presented a proposed project outline based on they learned.
Education Approach: The main goal was for participants to commit to 60-hour agriculture training and learn agriculture skills as identified in the education plan (lesson plans, activities, and assessments for farm competencies), which was communicated in information sessions. The education plan was evolved throughout the years by both IRC NY and a trainer and was most successful in year two and three. Our team’s education training methods were centered on peer learning and hands-on instruction. Participants learned about horticulture, food systems, soil care, environmental justice, medicinal herbs, food production, and preparing for the agriculture workforce (please refer to the curriculum for additional details on learning objectives). The advisory committee assisted with reviewing materials and shared feedback on program design to strengthen our education approach. Course materials, handouts, and activities were shared with IRC trained interpreters to translate into participants' native languages to ensure they were prepared for the course.
In the first year, a key challenge arose from a lack of clarity with the primary training partner, Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE). Even though IRC had a signed MOU with them, there weren’t adequate training or evaluation resources in time to implement the year 1 cohort activities and education plan in full. Despite this, the IRC in NY's positive relationship with a trainer from Horticulture NYC led to the successful pilot course in year 1. In year 2, the IRC NY continued to work with that trainer who became the primary training instructor through the end of the project. In the first year, classes were weekly, which was a lot for participants. Keeping these learnings in mind, we spaced out courses in the following cohorts to allow time for more hands-on practicum work, which helped participants better grasp the training concepts.
The teaching approaches in year three were very successful, in particular running the practicum in house at New Roots allowed for a rewarding and meaningful hands-on educational experience. In response to participant feedback, we intend to make the climate resiliency pieces of future training curriculums more robust by engaging with our network of experts, such as the Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency, as well as enhancing the career development piece by ensuring all participants are connected with an Economic Empowerment Career Development Specialist to support participant’s future career training and employment opportunities.
Additionally, participants joined supplemental agriculture workshops held monthly related to farm management including ethnobotany, community engagement, and food safety. This additional offering helped us rebuild and improve the quality of our bioswale as well as educate farmers on holistic topics that are essential to food systems and the agriculture sector. These workshops helped farmers achieve benefits that lead to improved health and sense of community.
Evaluation Approach: IRC NY adapted to the aforementioned challenges in Year 1 in order to establish a smoother curriculum and evaluation system in Year 2. In the second year, we conducted the post evaluation surveys in person which yielded rich participant feedback. In year 3, our Food and Agriculture Specialist transitioned off the team and we did not have capacity to run the evaluation in person. As such, these surveys were emailed, which did not lead to optimized results. In the future, if we receive funding to continue this program, we will revert to conducting the post-evaluation surveys in person instead of just by email. We can get better responses by connecting with participants in person before they receive their certificates on the last day of class. In the beginning of 2025, we will actively call the outstanding nine individuals who did not complete the online survey, in order to receive their full evaluation and feedback before the growing season begins in March 2025.
Job readiness supports: Each year, participants from the course cohort received continued support in pursuing their career goals related to farming and agriculture. In the first two years, the IRC NY wanted to incorporate more career preparation and job readiness with the Economic Empowerment team at the IRC, but this did not happen due to a lack of capacity on the team as well as a large influx of priority clients from the Resettlement program. In year three, the Job readiness became more integral to support participants with pursuing income-earning opportunities within the food system farming sector. In the coaching sessions, they were able to reevaluate their goals, develop an action plan, and connect with additional resources such as training, financial literacy courses, and job referrals. Our 1:1 career coaching, in-house supports such as ESL courses, and free tax preparation supported participants in more areas of need. All participants were referred to Emma’s Torch to apply for their culinary training program. In 2025, we are planning to reach out to all participants from the year three cohort to ask about their career goals and whether they benefited from our referred resources.