A Story of Hope

This is a story of hope, or more accurately, seeds of hope. In Spanish, the term is “Semillas de Esperanza,” which became the name of the program for at-risk youth that Revision launched with it’s community partners, Gang Rescue and Support Project, LiveWell Westwood, Sisters of Color, Denver Public Health, and City Councilman Paul Lopez.

In 2010, Revision, along with its community partners, won a prestigious national award from the Convergence Partnership and the Prevention Institute to show the linkages between healthy food and community health, particularly in the area of prevention. Access to healthy food is a prevention strategy that can reduce violence and crime before it ever starts. You can’t have a safe community if you don’t have a healthy community. You can’t have a healthy community without healthy people. And you can’t have healthy people without healthy food.

Over the past year, Revision mentored 25 at-risk teens in violence prevention, healthy eating, community service, and social justice. During the summer, the teens worked at Kepner’s Community Urban Farm helping to grow healthy food, and they attended presentations from community leaders. Additionally, they participated in photo-voice projects that involved taking pictures of the things that they wanted to change in their community: abandoned buildings, cracked sidewalks, broken alcohol bottles and street lights, and convenience stores marketing junk food to them. This program culminated in six of the youth developing their own campaign to address the amount of liter and trash in the neighborhood. As part of their campaign, they created marketing materials, including t-shirts and wristbands that called for people to stop littering. For their work, they were awarded grants from the Center for Disease Control, the Denver Mayor’s Youth Commission, and the Denver Foundation’s Strengthening Neighborhoods program.

All of this work was rooted in the Community Urban Farm that Revision started in 2009 at Kepner Middle School, which has continued to grow every year. In 2010, Revision won a grant to plant 40 fruit trees, making it Denver’s first urban fruit orchard. This year, Revision was awarded funding from the Office of Economic Development to expand the farm from 8000 sq. ft to 33,000 sq. ft and to build a greenhouse that will help start seedlings and produce food year round.

Built upon the foundation of a strong community food system, Revision is writing the handbook on health, safety, sustainability, and economic development. At the center is an urban farm - a safe, gathering place for young and old to connect and to learn about nature; a place that beautifies while ensuring food security; a place that provides resources and classes. The seeds of hope that are planted here are becoming the heart and soul of the community.

In 2012, Revision will continue to pioneer its model by breaking ground on two new urban farms –an additional 3 acres of land – expanding its food production and distribution through a neighborhood-formed cooperative, increasing it’s educational programming, and launching a new innovative youth-mentorship program.

As you enjoy your New Year’s celebration and think of your resolution for 2012, think of the movement that is taking place just across the city. An underserved neighborhood is finding its resolve – and it’s roots – to grow into a strong, healthy, and safe community.

Please consider making a financial contribution to Revision’s urban farm and youth program. Your support is an investment in your community that will pay dividends now and for generations to come.

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