Poughkeepsie’s Urban Youth – Rooting for Change

This spring, the PFP joined a collaboration of community partners, including the Ford Scholars Program of Vassar College, the Mental Health Justice Program of Astor Services for Children and Families, New Hope Community Center, and the Poughkeepsie City School District to launch a new initiative. Rooting for Change is a youth empowerment program that creates authentic opportunities for high school students to learn inter-personal and conflict resolution skills while developing an understanding of food production and healthy nutrition. Starting in the spring with the Planting Seeds Program, high school students designed and worked in educational garden spaces in the City of Poughkeepsie. The gardens are the physical spaces where students practice the skills they acquire in the program.
The program continues this summer with Feeding Our Community Program, during which the youth will continue building and maintaining the community gardens and may support the Poughkeepsie Community Food Assessment. (stay tuned, more information will be provided on this in a summer edition of the newsletter) designed to build an understanding of the food system in the City of Poughkeepsie.