Back to School Fair at Nurturing Roots Farm
I’m so blessed to have been a recipient of a grant from CitiesRise to host a Youth Healing Project at Nurturing Roots Farm on Sunday, August 29, 2021. Here is a recap of this amazing community event. Thank you to all of the community supporters!
Behind The Idea
The purpose the Youth Healing Project grant was to develop a community project that focused on youth healing. I knew I wanted to curate a space that prioritizes Black and Brown youth. From the historical trauma, to the pandemic, Black and Brown youth are in dire need of support and resources.
I chose to partner with Nurturing Roots, a Black-owned farm in Beacon Hill. This is a gorgeous volunteer-led community garden, with livestock, a playground, and an educational center. Through my own experience, I’ve learned that farming and green spaces is a form of radical acceptance, and can positively impact mental health and wellness.
Growing up in Detroit, MI, spaces like these weren’t accessible. In fact, many of my peers actually don’t enjoy the outdoors, and it deeply saddens me. I now understand that this is due to lack of access and not being exposed to these spaces growing up. Farming and building community through green spaces is an indigenous practice, and everyone has a right to the outdoors.
A Black owned farm in South Seattle was the perfect partner for this event!
Pictured: Nyema Clark a.k.a “Farm Queen”, Owner of Nurturing Roots Farm holding a chicken and showing a youth participant at the Back to School Fair.
“Farming and building community through green spaces is an indigenous practice, and everyone has a right to the outdoors”
Pictured: a youth playing with a tire at the Back to School Fair
Pictured: the vendors from Geeking Out Kids of Color
Event Highlights
We had an amazing turn out at the event from both the vendors and the community members.
The event included farm tours and garden exploration, vendors, art, group meditation and story time, free groceries, free school supplies, free brand new books (most of which were from Black and Brown authors and/or featuring Black and Brown characters), free fidget toys, free journals, and a calm corner.
It was very important to me to partner with vendors with accessible programming, that also prioritize Black and Brown youth.
A special thank you to the following vendors:
“It was very important to me to partner with vendors with accessible programming, that also prioritize Black and Brown youth.”
Pictured: vendor from Families of Color Seattle
Mental Health & Wellness
One of the most important components for this project was to offer a space for healing and mental health. I achieved this by facilitating a group meditation time and group story time during the event. This was my first time leading an in-person meditation. I received great feedback from the participants, and it was a great time to calm myself down from the stresses of running an event.
Leading this meditation has opened new doors for me. After this event, ArtsCorps hired me as a meditation facilitator for a virtual staff training because they enjoyed the my meditation session at the event!
The story we read was I Affirm Me: The ABCs of Inspiration for Black Kids x Nyasha Williams. This story was also very affirming for myself. It’s very evident the importance of representation in the media, no matter how old you are. This moment is honestly one of my favorite moments of the entire event!
Pictured: me reading I Affirm Me to some event participants.
Calm Corner Infographics
I also set aside a Calm Corner at the event as a way to model mental health, and offer ideas for families to implement these mental health practices into their own homes. Our Calm Corner was a small tent away from all of the happenings of the event, and included sensory bottles, art supplies, journals, fidget toys, puzzles, books, and an infographic I made to educate families about Calm Corners. You can see these graphics below.
Mindfulness Worksheets
Below are some samples of the free mindfulness worksheets that were available at the event.
What’s Next?
I’m extremely excited to announce that Nurturing Roots has now contracted me to offer youth and family programming at the farm! I’ve been working with Nurturing Roots since October 2021, with efforts to connect with more families and organizations, and to offer free and low-cost outdoor eduction programs. All of my programming will be integrating the arts and mental health and wellness.
Thank you again to CitiesRise, Nurturing Roots Farm, vendors, volunteers, and event participants for supporting the vision! It’s so wonderful to have such a wholesome event come into fruition and to develop long term community partnerships.
Check out my Events Page for upcoming Nurturing Sprouts workshops at the farm, starting in January 2022.
Pictured: me at the Back to School Fair