The Ellen Show Surprises Englewood’s Southside Blooms With $10,000 To Build Flower Farm For At-Risk Youth
“One day, I’ll wake up, and most vacant lots will be flower farms, most of our youth will be employed in the floral industry and the problems we experience today with poverty, guns and drugs will be for the history books.”
By Atavia Reed
Block Club Chicago
Jun 7, 2022
Excerpt:
Southside Blooms will use the money to build a flower farm on recently acquired land next to the Cook County Jail, Blackwell said. The funds also will allow them to hire young people in need of a job or community service project and “get them off the streets and into the flower industry,” Blackwell said.
“This opportunity is a way to have a direct relationship with the most vulnerable, highest risk youth in Chicago so that we can get them to be more interested in flowers and farming and making bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages instead of picking up guns and drugs,” Blackwell said.
While many might not consider farming and gardening as a viable solution to helping at-risk youth, “getting their hands in the dirt” is a therapeutic activity for most of the youth he works with, Blackwell said.
Harvesting flowers and weeding is an opportunity to be out in nature and clear their head. Creating bouquets and unique arrangements allows them to express their creativity, he said.
When they see the fruits of their labor, it shifts the narrative of what they can do and who they are, Blackwell said.
“It’s really hard to describe the kind of impact that this work has on a young person who’s been down and out their entire life, but it’s amazing,” Blackwell said. “For me, that’s the best part of the job — seeing these young people believe in themselves and that their lives matter and they have real value to offer people.”
