Food Justice

Youth Staff Leaders James and Aaliyah at Pawtucket’s Galego Community Farm

In South Providence and Pawtucket’s Woodlawn neighborhood, SCLT is nurturing more than healthy soil and robust crops. We’re cultivating the next generation of urban farmers, environmental stewards, and community leaders with our Youth Program. As these youth grow and take root in their communities, they carry with them the seeds of change, promising a brighter, greener future for Rhode Island.

While youth engagement and education have remained foundational throughout SCLT’s four decade history, our Youth Program was first formalized in 2015. Through academic year and summer intensive sessions, the program compensates youth and emerging adults to gain hands-on agricultural experience and valuable work readiness skills. 

But it’s more than just a summer job. For many participants, like 18-year-old Aaliyah, it’s a radical experience. “This has been a huge transformation for me,” she shares. “It’s changed my attitude on life and brought me out of some dark places.” Aaliyah’s journey from a 14-year-old newcomer with a detestation for dirt, to a knowledgeable and networked Youth Staff Leader exemplifies the program’s profound impact.

SCLT’s Youth Program is designed to meet the developmental needs of historically underserved youth, operating with a trauma-informed and compassionate approach and creating safe spaces where youth are heard and can explore their interests in a supportive environment. The program is managed by three trusted SCLT staff who, intentionally, live in and are representative of the communities they serve. Nearly 100% of the participants identify as Black, Latine, or Southeast Asian.

The power of the program is thanks, in large part, to its experienced staff and a growing list of partners who share SCLT’s vision. We are grateful for our longstanding funders, like the Governor’s Workforce Board, the Providence Rotary Charities Foundation, Amica Companies Foundation, Papitto Opportunity Connection, the City of Providence’s One Providence for Youth program, Groundwork RI, the Partnership for Providence Parks, University of RI, RI Food Policy Council, the Northern RI Conservation District, and the Mary Dexter Chafee Fund, who have shaped this program into the unique experience it is today. We thank new funders, including the Rhode Island Foundation’s Black Philanthropy Bannister Fund and Bloom Rhode Island, for recognizing the importance of sustaining SCLT’s Youth Program. SCLT staff continually work to build new relationships with diverse partners who can offer valuable perspectives to our Youth Staff as they move into adulthood.

SCLT’s Youth Program offers participants, aged 14 to 22, a rich and diverse experience. Field trips in 2024 included visits to Open Farms Retreat, Maisey’s Tree Farm, the Brown Design Workshop, the Steel Yard, and the Blackstone River. These excursions provided opportunities for outdoor guided meditation, kayaking, learning about medicinal plants, and exploring sustainable forest and pest management techniques practiced by Indigenous people of Rhode Island. We welcomed visitors from Zero Waste Providence, People’s Port Authority, Harvest Cycle Compost, and Amaryllis to SCLT’s Youth Enterprise Center at our South Providence Healthy Food Hub, to expose Youth Staff to the interrelated issues of environmental justice, urban agriculture, and food systems.

In addition to field work, Youth Staff team up in SCLT’s commercial kitchen, learning safety, food preparation, and storage techniques. Twice each week, they prepare lunch for fellow Youth Staff using produce they have grown at the Somerset Hayward Youth Garden and the Galego Community Farm in Providence and Pawtucket, respectively.

Professional development is a key component of the program. Weekly sessions utilize the Roots of Success (ROS) framework, a nationally recognized education and workforce resource. ROS helps participants build skills needed for today’s workforce, including critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and leadership, as well as environmental, financial, and civic literacy.

In a survey at the end of their summer session last year, one Youth Staff reported “The learning opportunities were immense, the education on life skills was very good, and the balance between helping the community and staff was excellent.” Another noted, “The instruction style worked well in creating a community among the staff of different ages. I liked the field trips that had us learn and experience new things, and the cooking lessons because it showed how we could actually use the produce we grew and make something delicious.” In total, 88% of Youth Staff found their experience with the Youth Program to be very good or excellent.

Looking ahead to 2025, the program plans to expand its offerings and deepen partnerships. New additions include First Aid, CPR, and overdose prevention training for program staff and youth, as well as partnerships with St. Martin de Porres Multiservice Center and Southside Cultural Center for intergenerational urban agriculture programming.