BACKGROUND

The Rebel Garden began as 3 small, raised planter beds in the Chuco’s Justice Center parking lot in 2019. Thanks to combined efforts of garden caretakers and RuckusRoots, in 2021 we piloted The Rebel Garden Project internship with students from FREE L.A. High School, an alternative school for systems-impacted teens and young adults. The garden now includes 5 garden beds, artistic signage, a greenhouse, a shed and soon-to-be-filled vertical hydroponic towers. Thanks to LA2050, our internship is in the midst of its second year.

CURRENT IMPLEMENTATION

Programming commenced on January 11th with a total of 22 enrolled interns and a rotating roster of facilitators from South L.A., offering hands-on workshops and entrepreneurial training in gardening, art and business development. Our ultimate project goal is for the youth to become empowered in climate resilience and food sovereignty while working towards careers in creative arts or food-based fields. To date, workshops have covered:

• Goal-setting
• Recycled papermaking
• Painting with soil-based pigments
• Urban planning & agriculture
• Resistance & environmental racism
• Plant propagation
• Zine-making
• Composting
• California native plant medicinal uses and product creation
• Fundraising for entrepreneurship
• Indigenous foodways, preparation & consumption

Project goals we’ve achieved so far include:

• 6-month curriculum design
• Interviewing and hiring a roster of 7 South L.A. activists / creatives as facilitators
• Successfully holding 10 sessions, with 11 more to come
• Dissemination of pre-survey, with interns scheduled to take post-survey in June. The results of these two surveys will help us compile program impact metrics.
• Partnership with SEE-LA and the Los Angeles County Department of Agriculture is underway to ensure proper certification of Rebel Garden produce for sale at farmers markets

ADDITIONAL SUCCESSES

We are proud of other successes we’ve achieved in terms of community relations, youth engagement and impact on the community of South L.A.

In preparation for this program, we held several community listening sessions wherein we heard from South L.A gardeners, activists and artists about the primary concerns affecting South L.A. youth. Identifying these challenges and brainstorming together about how our program can help address them was the next pivotal step in building a curriculum. In line with our shared leadership model, our boots-on-the-ground team all hail from South L.A and are reflective of the demographics of the youth.

We feel confident that our program is addressing the root cause of inequities in South L.A. by striving to empower BIPOC, systems-impacted youth with access to educational resources, creative opportunities, and pathways to sustainable careers.

A FEW CHALLENGES

Not surprisingly, we encountered some obstacles during implementation. For instance, the gardening teacher with whom we had been working was unexpectedly transferred to another position. This caused attendance to reduce drastically for two weeks, which meant adjusting the timeline of our facilitator schedule. Luckily, a new teacher came on board quickly and, working closely with Chuco’s administration to create incentives and consistency, we were able to increase attendance back to expected levels.

Ensuring our interns stay engaged in the topics we bring them each week is a primary focus. In the second half of the program, we will implement one-on-one sessions to hear directly from each intern about his/her goals and interests. We will take this feedback into account as we shape the final months of the program.

In addition, our original goal of having the interns host their own Farmer’s Market at Chuco’s is in flux because of various unforeseen factors, including space and permitting issues. We are excited to potentially pivot to a new solution, however: The Rebel Garden receiving a Certified Producer's Certificate from L.A. County, and participating in the existing, nearby Central Ave. Farmers Market.

LOOKING AHEAD

The second half of the internship continues this Spring with the following exciting workshops and events:

• Hydroponic tower training & planting
• Wheatpasting & public artmaking
• Food safety & handling
• Graphic design & marketing
• Harvesting and packaging
• Point of Sale
• Central Ave. Farmers Market
• Graduation

EVALUATIONS

Success would mean graduation of at least 75 percent of our interns, increased levels of understanding and confidence in critical skill areas indicated on our pre and post survey results, and The Rebel Garden having a successful day of sales at the Central Ave. Farmers Market or similar. Proceeds from this day will be evenly split among interns, who will also receive a stipend from RuckusRoots upon completion of the internship.