Davies Shelter awarded USDA grant to expand South Meadows Farm program
The Davies Shelter received a $50,000 grant through the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.
The Shelter was of the 48 organizations nationwide awarded the grant. It will fund an urban farmer training program and paid apprenticeships at South Meadows Farm, a 2- acre vegetable farm operated by the shelter.
South Meadows Farm grew out of the Davies Shelter’s existing community garden program and a partnership with South Rome Redevelopment, which owns the land. The shelter has spent the past two years launching the farm, which provides produce for the shelter kitchens and the Davies Shelter’s mobile farmers market, the Davies Farm Bus.
“The dream has always been for the farm to provide
meaningful employment and job skills for our guests who are struggling to find a job while also growing food for our community, and this funding really allows us to do that,” Executive Director Devon Smyth said in a release.
The grant will fund training and paid positions at South Meadows Farm for 10 individuals for one year. Participants will have the opportunity to start their own
“micro-farm” once they’ve completed the program using all the tools and resources of the Davies Shelter, including sales and marketing on the Davies Farm Bus.
“The innovative thing about this program is the focus on teaching folks how to start a profitable business to provide part-time supplemental income. It is a completely one-of-a-kind farmer training program,” Program Director Bobby Jones said in a press release.
The training program will leverage partnerships with Georgia Organics, the National Farmers Union, Berry College’s Department of Environmental Science and Studies and South Rome Redevelopment Corporation.
The USDA announcement comes as the Davies Shelter enters the final week of an online fundraising push to raise a 25% match for the program.
“We’re required to provide 25% matching funds. To keep from having to dip into our operating budget, we launched a short twoweek online fundraiser to raise our $15,000 contribution to the program,” Smyth said in the release.
The online fundraiser has raised over $ 8,000 from 85 donors with several key farm program supporters competing to raise the most funds before Oct. 1. Interested donors can view the online fundraiser at www. daviesshelter.com/donate.