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Wesleyan Student Receives and Summer of Solutions Hartford receive $10k Davis Projects for Peace Grant
By Makaela Kingsley, Wesleyan University Sunday, Mar. 30, 2014
they expand science programming through the school year. “The students have a hand in every aspect of the garden, from planting to cooking the harvest. These classes provide Four years ago, Jennifer Roach ’14 co-founded Summer of a peaceful learning setting as an alternative to their daily Solutions Hartford, a food justice and youth leadership activities. 41% of children in development program in Hartford, CT. Summer of Hartford and 57% of the Solutions was based in Frog Hollow, a low-income Hartford children in Frog Hollow live neighborhood, and affiliated with a national youth-led below the poverty level and nonprofit called Grand Aspirations. Since 2010, Summer of suffer many barriers to Solutions has grown to 7 garden sites across Hartford, healthy food. By integrating continuously working to “increase access to healthy food gardening into their school and community green spaces in Hartford by empowering curriculum, we are creating young people as innovators in the food justice movement a safe space for them to Jennifer Roach ’14 on a group trip and providing them tools and opportunities to create to Wild Carrot Farm, Bantam, CT learn and a healthy food solutions to food inequality in the city.” source.” This month, Jennifer and Summer of Solutions were awarded a $10,000 grant from the Kathryn W. Davis Projects for Peace program. The Projects for Peace grant will allow Summer of Solutions to expand its 9-week summer program to a 7-month internship for youth interested in urban agriculture.
With this Davis Projects for Peace grant, Summer of Solutions will be able to expand to new schools each year, soon engaging thousands of students in urban agriculture.
Roach writes, “We are absolutely delighted to learn that we have the support of the Davis Projects for Peace Summer Grant to support the 4th year of Summer of Now in the its eighth year, Projects for Peace is “an Solutions Hartford. This award will allow us to expand our invitation to undergraduates at the American colleges in programming and add a new 7-month intensive urban the Davis United World College Scholars Program to design agriculture internship for 12 youth.” grassroots projects that they will implement during the summer. The objective is to encourage and support today’s The new 7-month internship program with Summer of youth to create and try their ideas for building peace.” Solutions Hartford was also selected as a finalist for a 2014 Four of the Summer of Solutions garden sites are located at elementary schools across Hartford. These use previously empty land to create natural educational spaces. Roach’s team works with 350 students through summer school activities, and they expect to reach at least 600 students as
Patricelli Center Seed Grant, which funds the launch or early-stage growth of a Wesleyan connected project or venture, but Jennifer Roach withdrew from the competition when news of the Davis Prize arrived. In order to maximize support of student-led initiatives, Patricelli Center policies stipulate that no student may receive both.
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