The 2009 Apprenticeship Housing Project
at the UCSC Farm: SUCCESS!
“Living where you’re
learning provides invaluable experience in farming and land
stewardship.
"Observation of the fields and ecology
is key to farming success, and it doesn’t start
at 8:00 a.m. and stop at 6:00 p.m. weekdays. The type
of deep connections that apprentices make with each other
and the land wouldn’t happen in a commuter program.”
Don Burgett, 1997-98 apprentice
Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden
Board of Directors, Treasurer |
In January 2009, the Apprenticeship staff and supporters
were faced with a critical deadline: we needed to raise $250,000
to complete the fundraising for the Apprentice Housing Project.
The project’s tent cabins would replace the 41-year tradition
of apprentices living in tents on the UCSC Farm during their time
in the Apprenticeship program, a change required by the university’s
administration. This housing would allow participants in our six-month,
full-time training program to continue to “live where they
learn” and keep the program affordable, with tent cabins offering
an alternative to Santa Cruz’s expensive rental market.
|
Photo courtesy of Tana Butler
Thanks to the generosity of hundreds of individual
donors, businesses, and foundations, the 2009 "Grow a Farmer" Campaign
was a smashing success and the housing is nearing completion!
We broke ground on September 13, 2009, and are on target to have nine tent
cabins, housing 39 apprentices, for the 2010 Apprenticeship
class.
Read more about the groundbreaking party and our
many supporters…"Grow
a Farmer" celebration article (704K PDF): contains
photos and a complete list of donors. THANK YOU! |
