Nuestras Raíces

ISSUE AREA: PLACE

City: Holyoke, MA
Labor Force Preparedness - Youth - Heritage Development

Contact:
Daniel Ross
Executive Director
Nuestras Raíces
329 Main Street
Holyoke, MA 01040
(413) 535-1789
dross@nuestras-raices.org

Date Published: October 2006

Nuestras Raíces is a grass-roots organization that promotes economic, human and community development in Holyoke, Massachusetts through projects relating to food and agriculture. Originally started in 1992 as an organization to support community gardening efforts, Nuestras Raices’ activities have expanded greatly since its founding. The organization is now responsible for programs ranging from youth leadership training and environmental justice and community organizing efforts, to the establishment of an agricultural center in Holyoke. Many of the participants and residents that Nuestras Raices serves are Puerto Rican immigrants, who first arrived in the Northeast as migrant farmers. Nuestras Raices’ programming allows these individuals to reconnect with their backgrounds in farming in their native country, and to impart important agricultural skills to younger generations; Nuestras Raices also helps to promote healthy living and eating, and instill community pride.

Holyoke, like many of the small cities along the Connecticut River, was once home to a booming paper industry, and suffered from economic devastation when the factories and mills disappeared. The large industry in Holyoke made it a haven for new immigrants seeking employment. Holyoke now receives the highest state aid per capita. Much of the decline in industry had its largest effect on the immigrant population, particularly the Puerto Rican population, who comprise a third of Holyoke’s total population. In its poorest sections, Holyoke’s unemployment rate is over 31%, and Latino households in particular only earn 37% of the city’s median income.

The program began when a Hampshire college intern worked with Nueva Esperanza, another community-based organization in Holyoke, on a project to clean up an abandoned lot and transform it into the La Finquita community garden. By turning the lot into a garden, the community was able to make use of the agricultural skills of the many Puerto Ricans who had grown up on farms in their native country. Noting the successes of the La Finquita garden, community gardeners developed Nuestras Raices with the goal of building a greenhouse in downtown Holyoke. The program has created seven community gardens, as well as two youth gardens. The project has helped not only to improve the appearance of communities, but also to strengthen community pride and empowerment. The community gardens have helped increase property values in Holyoke, improve the safety of the community, and foster intergenerational relationships.

Out of its work organizing community gardens, Nuestras Raices has grown into a comprehensive community development organizations. Nuestras Raices has established a youth leadership development program, and organizes educational workshops and field trips. The group also sponsors a stand at the Holyoke farmers market, where produce grown at the community gardens can be sold. They established the El Jardin bakery, which produces organic artisan bread for retail and wholesale purchase- a project that both creates employment and educates about organic foods. The group has worked with University of Massachusetts extension services to develop techniques for growing herbs, vegetables, flowers, and fruit indigenous to Puerto Rico.

One of the group’s largest projects is the establishment of the Centro Agricola Community Agricultural Center. Nuestras Raices transformed an abandoned building and vacant lot in Holyoke into a resource center for the development of small businesses. The building was created through a community-based design processed, which assessed how to utilize and design the space in the best interest of the community. This center includes a greenhouse, community kitchen, café/restaurant, bilingual environmental and agricultural resource library, bread bakery, meeting space and plaza.

In 2004, Nuestras Raices was one of 12 communities nationwide chosen by the Ford Foundation to receive a $150,000 grant for its community transformation efforts. Nuestras Raices is using these funds to support the development of Tierra de Oportunidades, an initiative in partnership with several other organizations to improve social, environmental, and economic issues in Holyoke. In partnership with the Trust for Public Land, Nuestras Raices purchased four acres of land adjacent to the Connecticut River. A quarter of the land will be dedicated to youth activities. Under mentoring by older experienced farmers, the youth will grow herbs, vegetables, fruits, berries and cut flowers for retail sale at the Holyoke Farmers’ Market and Nuestras Raíces’ community agricultural center. Half of the land will be divided into plots, to allow space for 2-4 seasoned gardeners to transition from community gardening to commercial farming. As part of the initiative, Nuestras Raices will also hold community forums throughout Holyoke to engage and organize members of the community to address issues facing their neighborhoods, ranging from drugs and gang violence to environmental issues.

The largest part of the group’s income and funding comes from private foundations, including the Ford Foundation and W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Nuestras Raices also gets funding from various federal (USDA, EPA, CDBG) and state (Mass. Environmental Trust, Mass Cultural Council) agencies. A significant part of the group’s budget also comes from earned income from the El Jardin Bakery and from space rental.

Resources:

nuestras-raices.org