Introducing SF Recycling & Disposal: Artists in Residence Program

The Artist In Residence (AIR) Program at SF Recycling & Disposal, Inc. is an innovative program that inspires and educates people about recycling and resource conservation by providing local artists with access to materials, a work space, and other resources at our Solid Waste Transfer and Recycling Center.

But, this is no ordinary dump, they are also the home of the only known art park inside of a garbage company. View their sculpture garden.

Additionally, AIR has just created a raised bed garden using recycled redwood lumber that was thrown away (despite being unused) from construction projects. They're also growing produce in recycling containers and other found items.

SF Recycling & Disposal not only recycles plastics, papers, batteries, electronics, tires and other items, but they also recycle paint. The paint (considered a hazardous material which cannot be put in the dump) is given away for free. We will be using some of this paint for our community arts projects.

Learn more about: SF Recycling & Disposal's Artists in Residence Program

Special Thanks to the Sam Mazza Foundation

The Urban Share Community Gardening Project would not be possible without the support of the Sam Mazza Foundation. Their support through a $25,000 grant enabled WELCOME to hire a volunteer coordinator and project assistant who organize community events, donations and volunteers.

The Sam Mazza Foundation supports initiatives that strengthen communities through enriching culture, improving education and addressing physical and environmental health issues. The foundation gives special consideration to grantees who work to improve the condition of disadvantaged or marginalized populations. Founded in the belief that meaningful change requires a socially-responsible vision and innovative thinking, the Sam Mazza Foundation empowers charitable organizations to pursue a wide variety of projects that have a direct and measurable impact on the communities they serve.

Introducing Joshua "Griff" Griffin and the Episcopal Diocese of California

Joshua "Griff" Griffin is a postulant for holy orders in the Episcopal Church, and currently serves as the Environmental Justice Missioner for the Diocese of California. Griff grew up in Rhode Island and has lived all over New England, receiving his primary education from the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In May 2009, he received his M.Div from Harvard Divinity School and a Religion and Ecology Certificate from the Boston Theological Institute. He has a B.A. from Dartmouth College where he majored in Religion and Environmental Studies. After college he worked as an intern at the Global Living Project, formerly located at the historic Barra Homstead in East Corinth, VT. Griff has traveled extensively through Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland and Mozambique, studying the relationship between environmental, social, and economic issues in East and Southern Africa. For the last several years he has been trying to perfect the art of growing greens in a Boston apartment and is awestruck by California's infinite growing season. He lives in the Inner Sunset with his wife, Liz, a UCSF medical student with a passion for kale, and their 1,000,000,000 pet worms.

Learn more about the Diocese of California at: http://diocal.org/

Introducing Pastor Megan Rohrer and WELCOME - a communal response to poverty

Pastor Megan Rohrer has been the Executive Director of WELCOME (formerly the Welcome Ministry) since June of 2002 with calls from Ebenezer Lutheran Church (HerChurch), Christ Church Lutheran, St. Francis Lutheran and Saints Mary and Martha Lutheran.

The Welcome Ministry was created in 1996 as a homeless ministry. Under Megan's leadership and with the help of the SF Homeless Outreach Team, the Welcome Ministry was able to help more than 155 chronically homeless guests, many of whom had lived outdoors for more than twenty years, move indoors. Responding to the fact that a majority of their guests were now living indoors, the Weclcome Ministry board decided to change the organizations name to WELCOME - a communal response to poverty.

WELCOME continues to work with many of the same guests to help them stay indoors, to recover from addiction and to live healither and more independent lives. Because most San Francisco residents living in poverty live in SRO's (Single Room Occupancy Hotel Rooms) without kitchens in their individual living quarters, Megan recognized the need to grow healthy food and have it prepared for guests who were unable to utilize typical food pantries.

The Urban Share Community Gardening Project exists as one part of a larger model, rooted in the notion of empowerment. By including WELCOME's guests in every stage of the food making process, guests can work to nourish their own bodies; from planting, growing and harvesting, to preparing and cooking, they now have access to actively participate in their community, feeding themselves and each other while healing from trauma and learning important life skills.

Megan has began working on the Urban Share Community Gardening Project since 2007 with the desire to act as the link between gardeners and organizations across the nation, connecting them to one another to implement them. Once the garden has been built, the community will take it under their wing, allowing for a model of self-sustainability.

Introducing Produce to the People and its Founder & Director Lauren Anderson

Today, we'd like to introduce to you Produce to the People. Founder and Director, Lauren Anderson is a San Francisco Garden and Compost Educator and food justice activist that loves to feed people. Lauren is our Garden Manager and will oversee all our San Francisco garden sites from their initial phases of planning and implementation, through to their completion.

Produce to the People (PttP) is a backyard harvest project that collects excess produce from residential fruit trees and gardens in San Francisco. The produce is given out through local organizations that distribute free food to families and individuals in need, including The Free Farm Stand, The Julian Pantry, and Martin de Porres.

PttP is also in the first season of our youth employment and education program, which creates summer jobs for high school students- harvesting produce, working at food distribution sites, and learning about local food systems, environmental stewardship, and community organizing.

PttP serves the community on many levels, by offering a free service that utilizes fresh, healthy food that would otherwise go to waste, by aiding in our local food security through the distribution of produce to our neighbors and friends who may not always have access to it, and by creating youth employment and environmental education.

For more information please visit: www.producetothepeople.org