A Chicago Group That Runs Flower Farms On The South, West Sides Is Expanding Thanks To Federal Funding
Eco House will get $25,000 to expand programs at its Washington Park farm, where kids, formerly incarcerated people and others grow flowers.
By Jamie Nesbitt Golden
Block Club Chicago
Mar 17, 2022
Excerpt:
An urban farm is getting federal funding to build a Washington Park location.
Chicago Eco House’s Prison to Flower Farm project will get $25,000 as part of the $1.5 billion omnibus bill signed by President Joe Biden this week.
The group has been transforming the lives of the city’s youth and giving the local economy a boost since 2014, when founders Quilen and Hannah Blackwell converted a vacant Englewood greystone into the organization’s headquarters. Eco House operates four farms in Englewood, Woodlawn, West Garfield Park and Washington Park, with a sister farm in Detroit.
Southside Blooms, an offshoot of Chicago Eco House, launched in 2019 in Englewood. The program specializes in a “farm to vase” concept in which flowers are grown according to season and cultivated by teens, young adults and formerly incarcerated people.
The mission is twofold: help the environment and create a viable pathway out of poverty, said Blackwell, whose organization employs 50 young people annually and 300 in after-school programs.
