Growing Home

Growing Home is a leading social enterprise in empowering people and communities within Chicago. The organization developed Chicago's first USDA Certified organic, high-production urban farms. We strongly believe that organic agriculture is a catalyst for incredible social and economic improvement.

Growing Home focuses its work in three main areas, with our farms acting as our foundation. First, we provide job training and placement for hard-to-employ individuals pursuing careers in agriculture, landscaping, and food or customer service. Our 14-week, paid on-the-job training program includes hands-on training, classroom study, and a unique job readiness curriculum. This business-based enterprise provides experiential learning opportunities that help introduce, or reintroduce, participants into the workforce.

Second, we look to make postive and long-lasting differences in the communities that host our farms. During the growing season, we offer farm stands for our neighbors, host school field trips, and hold open houses with workshops and tours. We also aim to lead by example, and have helped build the Greater Englewood Urban Agriculture Task Force, in an effort to bring economic restoration and opportunity to the Englewood community where our urban farms are located. Our Executive Director was a founding member of the Chicago-based Advocates for Urban Agriculture.

Lastly, while our roots are in Chicago, our initiatives in urban agriculture are far-reaching. We are proud to have many Growing Home staff members in leadership positions as advocates for workforce development, sustainable agriculture, food access and food security, on local, national, and international levels.