Wasatch Community Gardens has applied for $40,000 in federal funding through Salt Lake City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to support our farm-based Green Team Job Training Program for women facing or experiencing homelessness. The program takes place at WCG’s new City Farm on 1300 South, in the Glendale neighborhood.

The program provides paid employment, work readiness training, job placement and continuing education assistance, mentoring, and support for women facing/experiencing homelessness at WCG’s urban farm. The program and farm also serve as critical resources for addressing food insecurity in Salt Lake City.

Help us secure these funds by writing to the Salt Lake City Council! Tell the Council how important this program - and its impacts on addressing homelessness and food insecurity in Salt Lake City - is to you! If you live in Salt Lake City, find your representatives here. Sample email text can be found below.

Your voice - and a chorus of many WCG voices - is what we need to help us advocate for this important program funding! Public comment ends April 14.

Thank you for your dedication to WCG’s mission and vision!

Sample Email Text:

Subject: Support for Wasatch Community Gardens’ CDBG Funding Request

Dear Salt Lake City Council,My name is [Your Name], and I’m your constituent living in [Your Address or Town] (if applicable). I’m writing to request your support for Wasatch Community Gardens’ (WCG’s) application for $40,000 in CDBG funds to support its farm-based Green Team Job Training Program for women facing or experiencing homelessness. This program provides paid employment, job training, and mentorship at WCG’s new City Farm on 1300 South, helping participants secure stable housing and jobs. Green Team members are challenged to learn, grow, and rediscover their strengths, even as they navigate difficult circumstances. A key part of the program’s success is WCG’s onsite Case Manager, who maintains a realistic caseload to support Green Team members while also assisting overworked shelter and outreach case managers. Over 100 Green Team graduates have transitioned to independent living, with 80% securing housing and employment within six months. 

The impact of this program extends far beyond individual participants. Green Team members play a critical role in ensuring thousands of individuals and families have access to fresh, nutritious food. All produce grown at City Farm is donated to low-income community members through WCG’s partner organizations, distributing $100,000 worth of healthy food annually. In any given year, more than 40% of the Utah population served in shelters has received food grown by the Green Team at WCG’s farm.

With 12% of Utahns experiencing food insecurity and grocery prices rising, sustainable, local food sources are more critical than ever. WCG is the only broad-scale, garden-to-mouth nonprofit in Salt Lake City, providing growing space, food education, and distribution to shelters and community partners. Without CDBG support, Salt Lake City compromises this vital resource that not only feeds our community but also helps women reclaim stability in their lives. 

Please prioritize WCG’s Green Team Job Training Program for CDBG funding.

Thank you,

(Your name)

Are you passionate about a gardening or food preparation topic and want to share your knowledge with others? Please complete the form linked below and propose a class that you want to teach! Guest Instructors are paid a flat rate per class. To be considered, classes must relate to Wasatch Community Garden's social justice mission and values. Examples of classes previously taught by guest instructors include:

• Indigenous corn preparation
• Native bee box building
• Organic fruit tree care
• Vermicomposting
• Oyster mushroom cultivation
• Chicken breeding
• Family workshops about bats and raptors

Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions.

Propose your class idea

We’re Thrilled to Announce Our New Executive Director!

2025 is set to be a year of new beginnings at WCG! From completing the City Farm infrastructure to working with community stakeholders to develop our upcoming Small Farm Incubator initiative, there’s so much to look forward to over the next few months. In the final months of 2024, our Board and staff worked together to ensure the intentional, collaborative, and equitable process of selecting a new Executive Director. It is with great excitement that we share that the Board has selected Katie Dwyer as the next Executive Director of Wasatch Community Gardens!

Katie’s name may already be familiar to many of you, as she’s been an employee of WCG since 2020, and a community gardener even longer. Over the past five years, as Marketing & Communications Director and most recently as the Department Director of External Relations, Katie has consistently demonstrated a level of dedication and passion that has been nothing short of inspiring.

Katie’s deep understanding of our mission, commitment to equitable programming, and ability to keep us aligned with both organizational goals and community needs make her a perfect fit for the role in this next chapter. Katie will officially begin her role as Executive Director on March 1, 2025. Georgina and Katie are working closely with the board to ensure a smooth transition into the position for our staff and community. 

Message from Incoming Executive Director Katie Dwyer

"My first steps into WCG’s 4th East Community Garden told me this nonprofit was special: the peace of the garden, nestled on a bustling city street; the astonishing array of fruits, veggies and flowers to nourish body and mind; the diversity of life, from insects to birds to my fellow gardeners themselves. A then-recent transplant to Salt Lake City from Chicago, I found the community connection in the garden that I so craved. Eight years later, moments of connection in the garden continue to be among my greatest joys. I see this same joy play out on the daily through my work at WCG, and I am so very delighted to step into the Executive Director role.

What an honor it is to serve this organization that I and we hold so dear, and one that has been beloved by the greater Salt Lake community for 35 years running. I am excited to get to know you, to hear a bit about your personal connections to WCG and our mission, and to walk alongside our staff, our Board, and our vibrant community in pursuit of healthy food access for all. I can’t wait to see you in the gardens!"

Katie Dwyer
Incoming Executive Director

Retired Physician Staffer

Events & Outreach Manager

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Sponsorship & Corporate Giving Director

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801-948-2637

Building Capacity, Deepening Impact!

Wasatch Community Gardens (WCG) is actively responding to the growing and evolving needs of our community, meeting these needs through sustainable, equitable, and intentional actions.

Catalyzed by the need to move our Green Phoenix Farm and driven by a vision to address food insecurity for members of our community who are disproportionately affected by limited or no access to fresh, healthy food, we developed a five-year capacity and capital building plan to propel WCG to a new level of operations that can be sustained, once elevated, without extraordinary measures. The Five-Year, $5 Million Growth Plan launched in 2023 and as we approach the end of year two, we are excited to share the progress and impact of this initiative. Please watch the video above to learn more about our 35 year history and how we are inviting our community to GROW WITH US into the WCG of the future!

Through the extraordinary support of hundreds of individuals, foundations, and businesses, and a remarkable 2:1 $2 Million matching grant from the Alternative Visions Fund, we have raised over $3 Million of this Growth Plan. THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to the Five-Year Growth Plan over the past two years. By the end of five years - in 2028 - WCG will have sustainably built sufficient capacity, with equitable pay and intentional structure so we can meet the growing demands of our community. This Plan builds upon the three all-important pillars that guide our actions:

• Preserving Productive Green Space
• Establishing Sharable Models
• Strengthening Organization Partnerships

FIVE-YEAR GROWTH PLAN IN ACTION

Urban Farm Transplant	Increased Impact	Organizational Sustainability

HOW YOU CAN HELP WCG GROW

We’re grateful for the support we’ve received since launching this plan in 2023. We have successfully raised funds for the capacity portion of this Plan through the Alternative Visions Fund 2:1 Challenge Grant, and we are now focusing on securing funding for infrastructure for our two new farm locations. You are the partner we need to continue building WCG's capacity and deepening impact in our community. 

Join us to build capacity and deepen WCG's impact, and help us reach our five-year goal in the following ways:

• Donate Now to help us build up our new farms.
• This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Spread the word through social media, word of mouth, or forwarding a WCG email.

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