Outdoor Classroom for Hope Farm
Donation protected
Weavers Way Community Programs (WWCP) partnered with Martin Luther King High School in 2014 to launch the Hope Farm at MLK. Hope Farm is a site where life skills related to urban farming and nutrition are taught to students with intellectual disabilities and autism in WWCP’s horticultural therapy program - the first such program at a Philadelphia public school.
Year-round, students work with the WWCP youth education coordinator to plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables. We use the process of growing vegetables to help students learn valuable life skills such as cooperatively completing tasks, following multi-step directions, and developing fine and gross motor functions – all skills necessary for living independent lives. While the therapeutic aspect of these activities focused on the process, the finished product was important as well. Growing, tending and preparing vegetables helped students understand good nutrition and try new experiences.
Individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities are often more sensitive to the outdoor elements (sun, heat, etc.). With your support, WWCP will construct a shade structure to serve as a functional outdoor instructional space where we can conduct lessons and workshops. The cost of such a pavilion ($7835, plus $1200 for concrete to secure it) and picnic tables (2 tables at $400 each) is a stretch for a small, community non-profit like WWCP and so we’re bringing our campaign to you!
Will you help us to continue our great work? We ask you to give generously to support the Hope Farm at MLK and the students who gain so much through this unique horticultural therapy program. All donations are tax-deductible.
Weavers Way Community Programs (WWCP) empowers children, youth and families with the values and knowledge to be healthy, strong, and informed through experiential activities centered on urban agriculture, nutrition, and the cooperative economy. For more about WWCP’s other programs visit: www.weaversway.coop/wwcp
Year-round, students work with the WWCP youth education coordinator to plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables. We use the process of growing vegetables to help students learn valuable life skills such as cooperatively completing tasks, following multi-step directions, and developing fine and gross motor functions – all skills necessary for living independent lives. While the therapeutic aspect of these activities focused on the process, the finished product was important as well. Growing, tending and preparing vegetables helped students understand good nutrition and try new experiences.
Individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities are often more sensitive to the outdoor elements (sun, heat, etc.). With your support, WWCP will construct a shade structure to serve as a functional outdoor instructional space where we can conduct lessons and workshops. The cost of such a pavilion ($7835, plus $1200 for concrete to secure it) and picnic tables (2 tables at $400 each) is a stretch for a small, community non-profit like WWCP and so we’re bringing our campaign to you!
Will you help us to continue our great work? We ask you to give generously to support the Hope Farm at MLK and the students who gain so much through this unique horticultural therapy program. All donations are tax-deductible.
Weavers Way Community Programs (WWCP) empowers children, youth and families with the values and knowledge to be healthy, strong, and informed through experiential activities centered on urban agriculture, nutrition, and the cooperative economy. For more about WWCP’s other programs visit: www.weaversway.coop/wwcp
Organizer and beneficiary
Jackie Schrauger
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA
Weavers Way Community Programs
Beneficiary