From Gangs to Gardening, Chicago’s Southside Blooms Helps Keep Teens off the Streets
The floral industry is a $35 billion dollar a year industry. But 80% of flowers at market actually come from overseas.
Danielle Sanders
Chicago Defender
November 11, 2021
Excerpt:
They learn basic life skills like showing up on time, working on a team and learning to collaborate with others. In addition, they maintain a farm or get tasks done. It teaches them how to communicate. They also learn how to grow and develop plants. More than anything, they are learning how to explore avenues that they never considered before. Essentially, they are learning how to learn. It’s not just about learning soft or hard skills for a general job. This is specifically geared towards them having a viable career in the floral industry. One of things that makes our program unique is that we want to inspire a homegrown industry in the inner city, specifically in the floral industry. Our long term goal is to have the floral industry become an anchor industry in the inner city.
We identified flowers because it really lines with some of the natural assets of the community. There are so many vacant lots and young people who are eager to work, creative and talented. The floral industry is a $35 billion dollar a year industry. But 80% of flowers at market actually come from overseas. So we thought, what if we’re able to basically redirect that 80% of money going to other countries and keep it right here in our communities. That would make a huge difference for the youth as well as the larger community as a whole.
