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After the planting, nurturing, and harvesting come the meals that nourish not only our bodies, but also our minds and spirits. Sharing food unites us and helps us understand and support one another. This is one reason that eating healthy, organic, local food is just as much a part of Wasatch Community Garden’s (WCG) mission as growing the food.

To prioritize equitable food access, growing and eating are also central experiences for Green Team participants in WCG’s Job Training Program. This program, launched in 2016, employs women experiencing or facing homelessness with reliable, transitional, farm-based part-time work using a cohort-based model. The capacity-building component of our Five-Year Growth Plan included hiring full-time Case Manager Jenifer Dove-Cornish to work with Job Training Director Jackie Rodabaugh, deepening support for these women in our community to develop and strengthen life and job skills, build confidence, cultivate strong work habits, and so much more.

While the primary goal of the Job Training Program’s Green Team is not to make permanent farmers out of participants, Carrie is one of a handful of Farmily members who have continued along an agriculture path. We believe this is in part due to the incredible power of food and community – and the culture within agriCULTURE. 

As WCG’s Farm Assistant, Carrie has been part of the Job Training Program move from the Green Phoenix Farm to the new City Farm of 1300 South, guiding new cohorts of Green Team members through the first full growing season at the new site. In addition to growing the seedlings for our Spring Plant Sale, the 2025 spring Green Team cohort planted and cared for the seeds that eventually grew thousands of pounds of organic produce for families and individuals facing food insecurity in our community. This produce was harvested by the 2025 fall Green Team cohort and delivered by Carrie and other WCG team members to places like the free farmer’s market at The Point. The fall cohort also made soups and fresh grape juice from the harvest to feed themselves and to be stored for the 2026 spring Green Team cohort, growing connections through food in an empowering cycle year after year!

In 2026, year four of our Five-Year Growth Plan, WCG will launch a new Job Training Program initiative, the Farm Incubator Program. This new program will address barriers to sustaining a livelihood in local urban agriculture, such as limited access to affordable land, hands-on experience, and practical education. Stay tuned to learn more about the vision and plans for this new program, and please grow YOUR impact with a donation today. 

Your donation contributes to Job Training Program expenses like these, helping all of our six programs thrive:

• $25 pays for a Food Handler’s Permit for one Green Team member
• $500 covers the average cost of work boots for a Green Team cohort
• $2,500 funds the Green Team breakfast, lunch, and snack budget for a full year

If you believe in building a stronger local food system and in the power of food and community, and you have the capacity to donate, consider increasing the amount of your gift this year, giving in a new way, or even making a monthly donation. Visit wasatchgardens.org/donate to invest in your community and help WCG cultivate a healthier, more equitable future.

With gratitude,

Katie Dwyer
Executive Director

P.S. Thank you for your passion and support whether that includes the ability to donate, volunteer, or support our mission in other ways. Donations of all amounts have an important impact, and there are many ways to amplify that impact, like employer matching donations and sharing about WCG’s work in your network. Visit wasatchgardens.org/donate to learn more and join in our vision for the future!