Mission, Vision, & Values

Mission, Vision, & Values

Our mission is to cultivate healthy youth through growing gardens in low-income, diverse communities

Our vision is that all youth are able to benefit from the joy and healing of nature-based outdoor education, and develop the tools, confidence and resources to navigate and challenge structural injustices.

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Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that the gardens we steward and the schools at which we teach sit on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush (rah-my-toosh) Ohlone peoples, who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula. We pay our respects to the human and non-human elders, past and present.

We know that our community expands beyond San Francisco, and want to encourage our friends and partners who live in the East Bay to pay the Shuumi Land Tax to the Sogorea’ Te Land Trust. For those who would like to learn more about the original habitants of the land on which they reside, please visit native-land.ca

10 Tenets of CommunityGrows
  • Every kid deserves to dig for worms.

  • Healthy, local food is a human right.

    Our programs focus on youth of color and those who live in areas with little or no access to green spaces and grocery stores. We work side by side with our neighbors to build a just and equitable food system.*

  • Plants heal.

    In addition to nurturing our bodies when we eat local, nutritious plants, gardening and the act of being outdoors can heal our minds and souls. The garden provides an environment where young people’s intuition and curiosity can be praised.

  • Cultivation takes time.

    We’ve been in the Western Addition for over 20 years and we know that building trust means continuing to show up, day after day, year after year in support and solidarity with our community. As we work with youth and families in other parts of San Francisco, like Bayview-Hunters Point and Outer Mission/Excelsior, we will continue to make relationships and trust the basis for our work.

  • Kids are awesome.

    They’re naturally curious, creative and resourceful. Engaging them in hands-on activities helps make learning as immediate, tangible, and real as the challenges they face every day in their communities.

  • Meet youth where they are. Literally.

    We work in ten gardens and three kitchens in the Western Addition, Bayview-Hunters Point and Outer Mission/Excelsior neighborhoods.

  • It takes a village.

    Our programs focus on youth of color and those who live in areas with little or no access to green spaces and grocery stores. We work side by side with our neighbors to build a just and equitable food system.*

  • The more opportunities kids have to practice healthy choices, the more likely they are to sustain a healthy lifestyle.

    We have 3 interconnected programs for youth ages 5-19 years old. Many of the kids we work with have literally grown up with us- learning about bugs in the garden at Rosa Parks Elementary, making potato-leek soup after school at Hayward Rec Connect, and honing their job skills while teaching younger kids about water conservation as part of the BEETS program.

  • Consistency is key.

    Youth thrive when they know that they can count on you.

  • Teachers need tending, too.

    Staff self-care is a vital part of our organization.

* An equitable food system is one that remediates injustices and creates a new paradigm in which all, including those most vulnerable and living in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color can fully participate, prosper, and benefit. It is a system that, from farm to table, from processing to disposal, ensures economic opportunity, high-quality jobs with living wages, safe working conditions, access to healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate food, and environmental sustainability.

It revitalizes communities by building upon the existing strengths, wisdom, and experiences of local residents and is critical to a thriving, healthy, and sustainable future for all. (Thank you to PolicyLink for the great definition!)

Our Values