There are so many different skills important to growing food - there’s always something for everyone! And work is so much more enjoyable when done together.

Community Starts Here

Just as transition ecosystems - the edges - hold so much of life and diversity, so it is with human communities. A diverse community fosters increased innovation, growth, and harmony… and requires ALL of us!

The objective of the Oliview Community Building Farm Project - the Oliview Project, for short! - is to grow a stronger society through lifting up young people, teaching through hands-on work and learning, building their capacity to use their unique skills and passions to grow food for their families and the broader community. Through the Project they learn practical skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives:

  • Starting garden plants from seed, with very few inputs;

  • Building soil, tending a garden, and respecting the plants’ process;

  • Cooking fresh, delicious food to build personal independence; and

  • The value of their own good, hard work, especially in supporting and providing for each other.

Through working side by side, we build relationships and trust. These relationships blossom into long-term connections, facilitating community reentry and improving longer-term educational, health, and overall life outcomes for participating youth and their families.

Youth lead food prep so that they can learn the steps and build skills. Cooking for themselves builds confidence, too, and supports economic self-sufficiency!

The finished dish! Eating together is a great way to build community: we have great conversations around the table, including planning curriculum, activities, and more.

We would like to especially thank those who have supported The Oliview Project since the beginning, and trusted the seeds we were planting to bear fruit. These include the Redding Rancheria, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, McConnell Foundation, the Smullin Foundation, and the Elevate Youth California program, part of the amazing Sierra Health Foundation.

We also benefit from generous individual donors. Please join us in making this program happen, and showing these youth the important role they have in our community.

Learning happens in a lot of different places and ways. One of the highlights of the Oliview Project is bringing in leaders from the community, region, and state to talk with the young people about their experiences. Sometimes it’s about education, nature appreciation, or journalism and telling your own story. In the photo above, we were lucky to have Chairman Jack Potter, Jr. of the Redding Rancheria, speak about his youth and evolution into the leader he is, today. The kids were struck by the Tribal history he shared, and we discussed it in the garden for days afterwards. This kind of personal interaction builds connections and social literacy, supporting community reentry and strengthening our civil discourse.

Does this sound as amazing to you as it does to us? These youth are at the most challenging time in their lives, which is made more challenging by their circumstances. We celebrate the amazing youth participating in this program, who have overcome so much and are willing to go farther, and trust people they’ve never met to support them in building the future they want and deserve.

Will you join us?

We are always looking for partners for the Oliview Project! You can:

Everything helps - remember, it takes all of us! - so please contact us if you have a passion to provide.

Thank you for being a part of this Project, for your care for Oliview Farm, and for the affection you share with us and all members of our community. As Wendell Berry says, it all turns on affection. In the end, these are the building blocks to a stronger and healthier community, and a better life for these at-promise youth.