"Started in 2016, [Wasatch Community Gardens'] Green Phoenix Farm is a 1.38 acre urban farm located in west downtown Salt Lake City, and an integral part of the Wasatch Community Gardens network.
Aside from being a fully functioning certified organic urban farm, the Green Phoenix Farm offers a job training program providing employment, mentorship, and advocacy for women facing homelessness. The women in the program, comprising the Green Team, work on the farm five days a week...under the leadership of James Loomis.
Leveraging the naturally therapeutic environment of a garden, the job training program supports women in crisis to recover an internal state of calm and groundedness as they work each day. Throughout the farm season, the women rediscover a sense of personal power and a boosted feeling of self-worth. As the program progresses, they work with mentors and advocates to set goals and create an action plan to become housed and into long-term employment by the time they graduate from the program.
Nearly 60 women have graduated from the program since its inception, with around 75-80% of graduates obtaining jobs and housing upon completing the program. And they continue to be housed and employed over time. That kind of success is not only staggering and impressive—it’s a meaningful solution to homelessness, which Salt Lake City desperately needs."