ans Affairs Job Training Program. The community provides a variety of benefits to the gardeners. One vegetarian restaurant gives the project free- meal tickets in exchange for produce. A local laundromat, “Ultramat”, provides the gardeners with a monthly allotment of “Ultrabucks” to use for washing their clothes. Some of the gardeners have coupled up with volunteers who assist with basic needs; from a bed roll for the night, to a job or housing opportunity. One gardener received assistance with his resume, which he then used to get a job with the University’s food service. Most recently, from the organizing efforts of volunteer Nancy Wicks and City Councilwoman Katherine Beiers, the garden has started a dental program. With funding from Medi-Cruz, Medi-Cal, and private donors, as well as inexpensive cleanings and x-rays from a local college and reduced rates offered by local dentists, three of the employees at the garden have received extensive dental work. “One thing most homeless people have in common is dental problems. If s hard to get a job with no teeth. With a little help from my friends, I got a new set,” said Bill Tracey. Beiers was motivated to help Bill when he was landscaping her house. “I told him, ‘Help yourself to the apples,’ and he looked at me and said, ‘There are two things you can’t do without teeth: kiss a girl and eat an apple’.” The Garden is also a magnet for contributions: clothes, a computer, and even a couple of trucks. With the latter, the gardeners could hire themselves out for landscaping, home gardening, mechanical work, carpentry, painting, etc., to supplement their income. Lynne says the extra work is not only monetarily rewarding, but also helps bridge the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” One of the workers developed enough trust with a neighbor that she asked him to live in her house for a month while she was away. Community Supported Agriculture In the Fall of 1991 the goal of self-sufficiency was raised. Many felt that in striving to cover expenses through the sale of produce, too many of the social service aspects of the Project would be sacrificed. Then this idea surfaced: garner support by asking the community to directly invest in the garden. A working model of this kind of relationship already exists, known as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). [See Rain, Vol. XIV, No. 2] In basic terms, CSA is an economic and social model for agriculture in which a farm or garden’s budget is secured in advance by the consumers. Neighbors form a direct relationship with the Project through purchasing “shares.” The costs and risks of producing the food are shared among those who will eat the dividend. The CSA model allowed the Garden to become partially self-sufficient, since shareholders commit to covering the agricultural costs, including the garden director’s salary, seed, water, etc. With this guaranteed support, the pressures and instabilities of competing in a capitalist market are lifted. This frees the Project to concentrate on its more central work: growing food and healing people. The CSA also provides a structure to connect shareholders to the food they eat, to the land where it’s grown, and with the people who grow it, while simultaneously addressing the problem of homelessness as a community. Shareholder Steven Beedle says “the CSA has meant guaranteed access to the freshest organic produce at a great price, supporting the much needed assistance to homeless people, and having a say in all issues that are confronting the Garden. There’s a sense of involvement, with people doing great work and benefitting in the process.” Another way to strengthen a supportive community is through harvest festivals and solstice celebrations. Recently over 300 community members attended a Midsummer’s Feast and Raffle at the Garden. People planted, harvested, danced and mingled to the blue-grass rhythms of the band “Harmony Grits.” Joseph Schultz, a well-known local chef at India Joze restaurant, cooked up the harvest from noon until dusk. Then, under the full moon, a bicycle and other donated items were raffled off, raising over $ 1,200 for homeless services. A fun and fruitful day indeed! Education Along with building community as a means to end homelessness, the folks at the Garden also understand the constant need for outreach and education. So in the winter of 1990, the Garden began a relationship with the local university. From the university’s Community Studies program came a group of ten interns that met once a week to work in the Garden and discuss with Paul Lee the workings of non-profit corporations and the historical context for the loss of “the Integrity of the organic.” They also helped Paul with research for his recent book The Quality of Mercy: Homelessness In Santa Cruz, 1985 - 1992. Last Spring, 28 students from a variety of disciplines — Environmental Studies, Sociology, Psychology, Community Studies, Literature, Philosophy, and Economics — aided in all areas of the Project. Mike Rotkin, a lecturer, shareholder and former Santa Cruz Mayor, said the Garden “involves UCSC students in helping homeless members of our community in a way that allows them to move beyond stereotypes about the homeless.” The Project also involves local elementary, middle and high school students. Groups come for tours and often pitch in with the work. Some groups spend time reflecting on their experiences in discussion or through journal writing. Chantalle, an 8th grader, wrote, “I have really loved meeting all the different people, gardening, and just being out in the fresh air. It’s a great way to learn. I think I used to be kind of afraid of homeless people, but now they have become real to me ... human beings.” Page 6 RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3
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