Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Crop Production: organic fertilizers, water storage
- Education and Training: decision support system, demonstration, mentoring, networking, youth education
- Farm Business Management: apprentice/intern training, business planning, farmers' markets/farm stands, financial management
- Pest Management: prevention
- Production Systems: organic agriculture
- Soil Management: composting
- Sustainable Communities: community development, employment opportunities, leadership development, new business opportunities, partnerships, quality of life, social capital, social networks, urban agriculture
Proposal abstract:
The Avalon Youth Leadership Program (YLP) provides opportunities for formerly homeless youth living in
supportive housing to participate in a year long program involving all phases of operation of a market farm. YLP
participants will also mentor younger children in Avalon’s Summer Program for Youth, and visit urban farms in
Detroit. YLP teens will work as a team with a focus on experiential learning. The team will be led by the Project
Coordinator, with assistance from a part time intern –both of whom will provide gardening and classroom
education, using the evidence-based curriculum of The Agrarian Adventure and MSU Extension.
Project objectives from proposal:
1. Educate participants on the theories and practices of small-scale sustainable agriculture through information
sessions, workshops, and the hands-on cultivation of their own YLP field.
2. Enable participants to move beyond the trauma and violence of homelessness through person development
including self-esteem, managing conflict, working in a team and developing leadership skills.
3. Give participants practical leadership experience by mentoring younger residents of Avalon Housing through
nutrition-based workshops provided by The Agrarian Adventure and MSU Extension.
4. Introduce participants to sustainable and community-focused agriculture via visits to urban farms in Ypsilanti
and Detroit.