This Tuesday we spent some time getting our hands dirty at the Strength To Love Farm in Baltimore. This farm is located in the middle of Sandtown-Winchester, where the nearest grocery store is too far away to be accessible to the majority of people living there. Our hosts at the farm talked to us a little bit about the history and development of the area and about their future goals for the farm and the community-building possibilities that it presents. They host programs that build employment skills for previously incarcerated people and are planning a celebration for National Black Gardeners day sometime in the future (a celebration of their own creation) and many other programs in arts, business, and education designed to uplift and directly support the community in need.
It gives me a lot of hope that even though the injustice in Baltimore is systemic, there are avenues for people to make changes both big and small that give back to the community and lift people up. Just the opportunity to have a direct impact was the most valuable part of this experience to me. The folks running the farm told us afterward that we had put them almost a whole week ahead of schedule. It was spiritually and mentally fulfilling to pull weeds for a few hours and it was inspiring and incredibly motivating to see the real work and impact that Strength to Love Farm had on the surrounding community and the hope for its future. It felt to me that we were helping to build a solid foundation for this farm and the people it helps to grow and flourish as a community and fight back against the systemic forces in place that hold people back.