Community Garden Youth

Tilling The Soil

Planting and Harvesting

Mission Statement: To renew the connection between our people and the earth, and to enhance the overall quality of lilfe for our Chickasaw youth.
Vision: The promotion of positive work ethics and effective life skills through a community garden setting in order to empower our youth, giving them all the tools and opportunities they need to succeed.

In January of 2002, six individuals were chosen to participate in the Chickasaw Nation's Community Garden Program, an entrepreneurial program designed to teach positive work skills through an agricultural setting. These six individuals were to receive training in agri-business and related fields and were to be assisted in locating gainful employment. Two of those original six entrepreneurial participants work with the Community Garden in a full-time capacity to this day, with one additional individual working with the Garden on a contract basis. Two more participants went on to receive employment outside the Community Garden, and one participant is now self-employed.

Since that first batch of recruits, the Garden has gone on to accept 21 youth in the summer of 2002 from the Chickasaw Nation's Summer Youth Program. Six became year-round employees on a part-time basis. In the summer of 2003, the Garden took on 19 more Summer Youth, and was able to employ ten participants year-round.

Garden services have expanded to include etiquette training, resume development, interviewing skills and academic assistance while still focusing on developing work ethics and producing new entrepreneurs trained in the diverse skills of the agricultural market place.

The Community Garden Program began with one small green house and raised beds, constructed by the six original entrepreneurs. The community garden now encompasses a second, larger greenhouse, a large traditional garden and a youth/office building in addition to its original structures. Facilities are in the process of relocation to centralize services to allow for further expansion. The small greenhouse will house both the Garden's hydroponics bed and the organically grown produce. Both of these projects are designed to allow youth to experiment with alternative methods of agriculture. The youth will be invited to participate in all aspects of these projects from design to implementation, including an analysis of the process.